DfT-backed efficiency drive seeks 30% highway maintenance savings

The DfT-backed Highway Maintenance Efficiency Programme has set an aim to reduce the cost of delivering highway maintenance services by 30% by 2020 while protecting service standards.

When the HMEP was first launched, the then minister for local roads Norman Baker declined to give Transportxtra a figure for the amount of savings that the programme would deliver. Baker said he did not want to "hit authorities over the head" if they did not take part in the programme.

Now, a new annual plan for the programme for 2014/15 says that indicators will be developed for the sector to measure efficiency and effectiveness.

The coalition Government removed statutory indicators measuring performance. The proposed new indicators are meant to be owned by the sector, rather than by Whitehall. The plan declares: "Incremental changes... may lead to service reductions in the longer-term. A more radical approach can improve services, help address past under-investment and ensure that we have roads that are truly fit for the future."

To achieve the new target, HMEP says it will provide "a more compelling case for change," an apparent acknowledgement that the argument for changing the way that services are delivered has not been won. It will also work to build capacity within the sector to bring about transformational change. Twenty-five per cent of highway authorities have not accessed HMEP advice, a new survey suggests.

The move comes as the DfT is poised to take money away from poorer-performing highway authorities.