Highways England was formed in March 2015. It is a government owned company and took over responsibility from Highways Agency, charged with driving forward investment programmes for motorways and major roads in England. This includes modernising and maintaining the highways, as well as running the network and keeping traffic moving.
As a government company, Highways England is required to work within a governance framework that sets clear expectations for its performance, and for the safety and performance of the network, remaining accountable and transparent in the way the network is maintained and operated. Highways England’s programme is guided by the Government’s Road Investment Strategy, which sets out long term objectives and the requirement to set a five year investment strategy.