The Transport Committee has published its report on the Department of Transport’s Strategic Road Network (SRN) and questions where investment is spent.

The Transport Committee questions the government’s investment strategy in its latest report.

In a summary of its findings, the committee said: “the Department needs to ensure that future Road Investment Strategy portfolios are deliverable. It is time for the Government to reconsider its portfolio of expensive, complex SRN enhancement projects.”

The report stated the committee questions how further investment in the Network would help boost growth, especially when compared to investment in other modes of transport and connectivity.

While the Government is committed to decarbonising the economy and the strategy to change transport is reliant on switching to zero emissions vehicles, the committee believes while traffic on the network is forecast to increase and there is a risk that uptake of cleaner vehicles will not be fast enough to mitigate it. “The Government should model and report on future scenarios where demand for the SRN is managed and must also provide a credible strategy for meeting the power needs of the future vehicle fleet.”

A key finding was that the SRN is failing to meet users’ expectations and the SRN requires significant renewal work, and improvements in regular maintenance and upkeep. This sentiment is echoed by the AA. Edmund King OBE, AA president, who gave oral evidence to the Committee said: “We fully support the Committee’s conclusion that the Government should prioritise strategic road maintenance over major new road schemes. Indeed, I actually told the committee that the number one priority is the actual state of the roads. Get rid of the potholes. We are pleased they have listened.

“The AA also made the case for speeding up the provision of roadside EV chargers which is beginning to happen. We also believe that cutting VAT for on-street chargers to match home charging VAT rates would increase the uptake of EVs.”

The committee also recommended the government improve its transparency and reporting on the progress of projects, stating: “National Highways should introduce a live project dashboard which provides up-to-date information on each SRN project.”

The government has two months to respond to the findings.