Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress Highways England have made towards its target of ensuring that the majority of roads with a (a) 1* and (b) 2* safety rating under the EuroRAP3* assessment programme have improved to a 3* rating; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusion of the Highways England Strategic Road Network Star Rating Report published on 4 July 2019 that for the funding period 2015-2020 60 per cent of journeys on Highways England’s single carriageways are forecast to be below the three-star road safety benchmark under the EuroRAP/iRAP rating system for the safety of road infrastructure.

The Road Investment Strategy (RIS 1) 2015 - 2020 has enabled Highways England to deliver unprecedented levels of investment on the strategic road network in England and the star rating system is an assessment tool which Highways England continue to use to assist them in prioritising future investment opportunities. The latest data indicates 95% of our travel will be on roads rated 3* and above by 2020, which exceeds the targrt set in the delivery plan.

On single carriageways Highways England are committed to investing £77 million in improvement schemes by 2020, which is over and above enhancements through routine maintenance such as new road markings, signing and vegetation clearance. Highways England will review the star rating of the network when it is re-evaluated as part of RIS 2. Estimates of star ratings by 2020 are conservative as they do not reflect the impacts or include the results of these designated funds. Travel on single carriageways only accounts for a small proportion of overall traffic on the network.