Transparency data

A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (Highways England): accounting officer assessment (September 2019)

Updated 27 November 2023

Background

The assessment was completed to align with the outline business case (OBC), which was submitted to DfT Board Investment and Commercial Committee (BICC) [now Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee (IPDC)] in April 2019.

The accounting officer assessment (AOA) was produced by Highways England in conjunction with DfT. The senior responsible owner sits within Highways England, the Highways England Chief Executive is accounting officer for the expenditure, and the BICC [now IPDC] committee, to which the project also reports, is chaired by the DfT permanent secretary as principal accounting officer for the DfT group.

The next AOA is expected to be submitted with the full business case.

Overview

The A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (A303 Stonehenge tunnel) scheme is part of a wider programme of A303/A358 corridor improvements, announced as part of the road investment strategy 2015–2020.

The corridor provides a strategic link between the South East and South West, but is avoided by hauliers due to the severe congestion on the route. The congestion is a major impediment to economic growth in the South West region.

The A303 runs through the Stonehenge, Avebury and associated areas World Heritage Site (WHS), a dense concentration of prehistoric monuments and sites. The UK committed to remove the road from around the stones when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised it as a WHS. Highways England has worked closely with heritage stakeholders to develop a scheme that will fulfil this commitment and protect and enhance the WHS.

Key scheme objectives:

• economic: to enable growth in jobs and housing by providing a free-flowing and reliable connection between the South East and the South West
• transport: to create a high quality and reliable route between the South East and the South West that meets the future needs of traffic
• cultural heritage: to help conserve and enhance the WHS and make it easier to reach and explore
• environment and community: to improve biodiversity and provide a positive legacy for nearby communities

Regularity

At the time of the AOA, the project was concerned with the lack of funding certainty for the scheme following the withdrawal of PF2, the private finance model to be used to fund the scheme.

The decision to continue with scheme development and development consent order process was taken following analysis which demonstrated that the risk of additional nugatory spend in continuing the scheme whilst a funding decision was reached was outweighed by the potential additional costs of pausing.

Value for money

At the time of the AOA, the value for money (VfM) of the scheme was been assessed as ‘low’ with a benefit: cost ratio of 1.15.

For the assessment, the value of removing the road from the WHS was monetised based upon a national survey to assess the cultural heritage value attached to removing the road. This type of assessment is unusual for road transport schemes, so it has been independently validated and externally peer reviewed. At the time of the AOA, it was recognised there were uncertainties around the absolute quantum of these benefits and sensitivity tests were undertaken. The analytical assurance statement concluded that, even if these heritage benefits were at the lower end of the possible range, the VfM would remain ‘low’ as the net effect of non-monetised benefits of the scheme are net positive.

The scheme has a broad range of strategic, regional and local benefits which offset the expense of building a tunnel through the WHS. These benefits, including rebalancing economic growth in the South West, and fulfilling commitments to UNESCO and heritage stakeholders provide the basis for taking the scheme forward despite its low VfM.

Propriety

The scheme is working to the HM Treasury (HMT) Green Book 2018 and European System of Accounts and within the standards set out in managing public money.

The scheme requires, and has, Highways England Board, DfT BICC [now IPDC] and HMT approval. The scheme will report to IPDC every six months as a minimum.

At the time of the AOA, a framework covering trigger points for escalation was being developed to assure IPDC of early warning if changes in the costs and/or benefits of the scheme are at risk of reducing the VfM to ‘poor’. If the parameters are breached at any stage, Highways England will immediately report to IPDC and seek advice with regards to whether to continue with the project.

Feasibility

The project follows Highways England’s project control framework process (PDF, 3.2MB) and it is currently in Stage 4.

The scheme is on the GMPP and is subject to the additional assurance mandated by the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA). External IPA reviews were held in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Further assurance is provided prior to HMT approval of investment decisions, including a treasury approval point in 2017 and a major projects review group in May 2019.

The most recent IPA review in March 2019 was to validate the OBC and test the project’s readiness to progress to the next stage. The project received an amber/green delivery confidence rating, illustrating a high level of confidence the scheme was ready for the next stage.

At the time of the AOA the delivery of the project was agreed by assurers to be feasible and the key milestones achievable.

Conclusion

DfT AOA

Bernadette Kelly, Permanent Secretary, DfT:

As accounting officer, I am content for work to proceed on this scheme. This is an interim position conditional on confirming the overall funding for the scheme.

This is an appropriate use of public money and the risks of nugatory expenditure are low and tolerable in comparison to the additional costs and loss of confidence that would be incurred if work was paused pending the funding decision process.

As a Tier 1 scheme, the project will return to Highways England’s investment committee and DfT BICC [now IPDC] at six-monthly intervals (or sooner) if factors affecting the value for money of the scheme change. A further assessment will be made ahead of entering into any further financial commitments.

4 September 2019

Highways England AOA

Jim O’Sullivan, CEO, Highways England:

As the accounting officer for Highways England, I considered this assessment of A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down and approved it on 13 June 2019.

I am content that this departmental minute summarises the key points which informed my decision.

If any of these factors change materially during the lifetime of this project, I undertake to prepare a revised departmental minute summarising my assessment of them.

13 June 2019