Transport Insights

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris has announced what is said to be his decision to step down, but the obvious question is, did he jump, or was he pushed?

The government owned company’s official announcement pointed out that he had held the role for five years, which is a decent stint, and he is reported to have just turned 60.

But the suddenness of his departure does not exactly suggest proper succession planning. National Highways said he will stay in post “during a short transition period while the Board confirms interim leadership arrangements”, with recruitment for a permanent successor beginning in the spring.

Harris said the start of the next five-year Road Investment Strategy (RIS) in April

is the right moment for me to hand over to new leadership who will guide the organisation into its next chapter

But the next couple of months, during which the new £24bn RIS will be finalised, are hardly an ideal time to be disrupting the organisation, and not the “smooth transition” promised.

And although Harris has been in the job for the equivalent of a RIS period, the current interim period between RIS 2 and RIS 3 means his departure is very different from what happened when his predecessor, Jim O’Sullivan, announced his departure in August 2020.

At that time RIS 2 was underway and O’Sullivan did not leave until February 2021, when Harris initially took over as interim chief executive.

So what could explain his sudden departure? Certainly National Highways has looked incompetent over the fiasco with speed cameras on smart motorways, which made national news and will have irritated both ministers and drivers – a key voter group.

In addition, it has been suggested that the POPE evaluations of smart motorways that the Department for Transport will be released next week, and National Highways has told me that this depends on ministers agreeing a “comms plan”.

Is Harris set to be the fall guy if, as suspected, the POPE reports show that all is not well with a significant number of smart motorway schemes, particularly on their safety?

Which brings us to a key part of the scripted quote that was issued in Harris’ name:

I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together over the last five years – delivering safer, greener, more reliable roads; strengthening our relationships with partners; and modernising the organisation for the future.

To claim that the strategic road network is safer than it was five years ago is pretty unforgiveable spin.

National Highways had a target for RIS 2 that required it to make significant reductions in killed and seriously injured casualties. It has very likely missed that by a long way. So although its network is marginally safer, it (Harris) has failed badly on safety.

So, have ministers got fed up with him and give him the push? Let’s look at the quote issued in the name of transport secretary Heidi Alexander:

I want to recognise Nick Harris’ contribution to National Highways over the past five years.

It’s damning with faint praise, isn’t it? Surely something positive could have been said about Harris’ contribution, beyond merely recognising that he had made one.