The Highways Agency (HA), established in 1994, is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. The respective roles and responsibilities and the governance of the relationship are set out in a formal framework document.
They have a small corporate centre in London and eight locations across the country. They also have traffic officers working on motorways based in seven Regional Control Centers’ and 28 outstations.
The Board includes their Chief Executive, seven executive directors who are responsible for managing the delivery of the agency’s responsibilities, and three non-executive directors.
What they do
They are responsible for the operation and stewardship of the strategic road network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Their primary functions are to manage traffic, tackle congestion, provide information to road users and improve safety and journey time reliability, whilst respecting and minimising the adverse impact on the environment. Find out more about their formal aim, objectives and values.
The road network, ranging from motorways to single carriageway trunk roads (the major A roads), is valued at over £81 billion. It carries a third of all road traffic in England and two thirds of all heavy freight traffic. The network provides a vital service to commerce and industry and to the lives of individuals and communities. View the network map.
They fulfill their role by working closely with their partners and contractors to deliver an efficient and sustainable network that meets the needs of all their customers. They have also forged strong links with other road administrations in Europe and around the world for the exchange of information, experiences and expertise.
They put customers first in everything they do, listening to them, and gaining a better understanding of the way the network impacts on them. Through this understanding they are better placed to respond to the needs and expectations of their customers.
Corporate Plan Customers First, published in 2005, set out the vision for providing a continuously improving service to all customers. This plan continues to focus their commitment to customers and to transform the ways in which they deliver services right across the agency. More detail can be found in the ‘Working with our customers and stakeholders’ section of their Annual Report.
