Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) taking the Highways Agency out of public ownership and (b) rebranding the Highways Agency, including (i) the replacement of uniforms and equipment of the staff of the Highways Agency and (ii) the replacement of liveries on the vehicles operated by the Highways Agency.

There are no plans to take the Highways Agency out of public ownership. The Infrastructure Bill seeks to establish the Highways Agency as a Government-Owned Company. An Impact Assessment has been completed on these proposals. This estimates the transitional costs of reform at between £11 million to £15 million. These costs would be one off costs and would be outweighed by savings of at least £2.6Bn over 10 years. No specific assessment has been made of the costs of rebranding or replacement of uniforms and liveries.