News & insights

Developing the new Performance Specification

Our team have been involved in multiple workstreams commissioned by DfT to help develop the Performance Specification which will apply during second road investment period (known as “RIS2”) 2020 to 2025. The Performance Specification establishes the government’s intended standards of service and performance for the Strategic Road Network. It is structured in the form of key performance indicators, targets, and secondary indicators.  It guides Highways England’s direction over the use of the funds available to it.  It acts as a benchmark to monitor and assess the company’s performance.  And it seeks to motivate Highways England (the body which manages the Strategic Road Network across England) to adopt new, more efficient practices over time.

As DfT and Highways England prepare for the start of RIS2, our team has supported DfT by advising on how the Performance Specification might be improved, developing new metrics and targets, and assessing Highways England’s own proposals. We have helped to ensure that the process followed to construct and select those metrics is appropriate, that the proposals are underpinned by evidence, and to ensure the targets are both challenging and deliverable.

The road ahead

DfT expects to publish the final RIS2 in late 2019. Over the coming months we will continue to support DfT as it further develops and finalises the new Performance Specification.