HIGHWAYS AGENCY

That this House agrees with the findings of the Transport Select Committee, expressed in March 2014, that the case for the removal of the Highways Agency from the direct control of accountable Ministers has not been made; believes that the proposed changes of the status of the Highways Agency to a Government-owned company is the first step towards full privatisation and will lead to road tolls, increased cost to the public and a detrimental impact on the environment and road safety; regrets that the option to maintain the Highway Agency as Executive Agency of Department for Transport but with funding certainty was not even considered; further believes that these proposals are not driven by evidence but the ideological belief that the private sector is better than the public sector; and calls on the Government to accept that there is no desire amongst the British public for a costly privatised road network and that the Highways Agency, properly resourced and at arms length as it was originally intended to be, rather than a Government owned company, would be a considerably more efficient and cost-effective solution to delivering the aims of the infrastructure investment in the Strategic Roads Network.