As custodian of the country’s motorways and major A-roads, we know that the work we do makes a positive difference – for people, the economy and the planet.
From 2020 to 2025, we’ll be investing £936 million from our standalone – or designated – funding. This money is allocated to four funding streams focused on making improvements that will make the biggest difference and deliver lasting benefits.
Our four designated funds are:
Safety and congestion
Making your journeys safer and more reliable
Contributing to improved safety for the people who travel and work on our roads, helping us to achieve a ‘zero harm’ network – where no one is killed or injured on our roads - by 2040.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
We’re investing this fund in initiatives which tackle locations of high congestion on our roads and keep traffic flowing.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Corporate targets
The themes in this fund support our corporate targets to:
Further details of the performance measures that Highways England is monitored against can be found in our Operational Metrics Manual.
Our work so far
Our Safety and congestion fund is new and runs from April 2020 until March 2025. Between 2015 and 2020, we used other designated funds to achieve similar aims, including:
Over 150 safety improvements on single carriageway roads to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured
111 schemes which reduced delays and improved safety in areas identified as traffic ‘bottlenecks’ on our network
28 schemes supporting local and economic growth which we estimate, over their lifetime, will support 45,000 new homes and 44,000 new jobs
Here are some of our stories
Humber compliance vehicle
Preventing self-harm
Roger Millward Way
Environment and wellbeing
We know that there’s a need to balance people’s reliance on our roads with doing all we can to protect and improve the environment.
Maximising biodiversity contributions from our activities to help wildlife thrive, including creating new or enhancing existing habitats.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Minimising noise to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of the people living near our roads.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Reducing concentrations of harmful pollutants in the air to protect the health of our neighbours and road users.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Reducing flooding on our roads and minimising flood risks to the communities who live alongside them.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Stopping harmful discharges running off our roads in to ground and surface water, while restoring damaged and modified waterbodies.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Supporting government’s ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Including cutting our own direct emissions, driving our supply chain to become more energy and resource efficient and helping road users lower their carbon footprint when they travel.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Preserving sites of special historic or cultural interest near our roads, so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Protecting and enhancing the character of the landscape surrounding our network, helping our roads blend in with their natural setting.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Delivering better environmental, health and wellbeing outcomes from our road improvement projects, adding value long after our work is finished.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Corporate targets
The themes in this fund support our corporate targets to:
Further details of the performance measures that Highways England is monitored against can be found in our Operational Metrics Manual.
Our work so far
Working with our partners, we’re achieving greater environmental outcomes together. Our progress so far:
Contributed to a 48% reduction in our corporate carbon footprint.
Contributed to reducing the risk of flooding in 260 locations.
Helped to conserve and enhance 14 sites of cultural and historic significance.
Planted over 260 hectares of species-rich grassland to boost biodiversity and support pollinating insects.
Here are some of our stories
Hull Minster
Electric Vehicle Trials
A38 Stover Park Wetland
Users and communities
Whether you travel on our roads, or live and work around them, we’re listening and responding to your needs.
Improving how our roads integrate with other local and national roads and modes of travel, connecting the country through seamless journeys.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Building new infrastructure, and enhancing existing facilities, to encourage sustainable, non-motorised forms of transport.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Enhancing roadside facilities for anyone who needs to stop and take a break.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Supporting the communities most affected by changes to our network, understanding their priorities and requirements.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Making improvements for the UK’s vital freight and road haulage sector, which contributes £11 billion each year to the economy.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Helping road users feel safe, make informed decisions and stay in control of their journeys.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Corporate targets
The themes in this fund support our corporate targets to:
Further details of the performance measures that Highways England is monitored against can be found in our Operational Metrics Manual.
Our work so far
Our Users and communities fund is new, and runs from April 2020 until March 2025. Between 2015 and 2020, we used other designated funds to achieve similar aims, including:
Completing 62 schemes which integrate our network with other transport infrastructure.
Working with Transport Focus to identify specific areas for improvement at roadside facilities.
Building 160 new and upgraded cycle ways to provide a safer, high-quality network for cyclists.
Identifying and testing improvements to variable speed limits and message signs. The improvements will enable faster, safer journeys for our customers.
Introducing new ways for our customers to send us real-time feedback. We’ve used over 3,000 responses gathered in the first five months of using our new customer feedback tool, ECHO, to make our services better.
Here are some of our stories
Innovation and modernisation
Your journeys will keep improving through our investment in innovation, science and technology.
Finding innovative and more effective ways to design, build and maintain our roads.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Supporting the move to semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, while putting users’ safety at the forefront of emerging technologies.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Providing seamless and sustainable journeys for our customers through reliable, information-rich highways.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Saving energy, reducing our environmental impact and delivering value for money through sustainable road enhancements and renewals.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Unlocking capacity on our roads and making them safer and better for the people who use and work on them.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Our work so far
We’re digitising our design processes, transforming how we’ll deliver the next generation of roads and finding better ways to protect our workforce and road users. Our progress so far:
We’ve invested over £120 million in 159 innovation initiatives between 2015 and 2020
Visit our Innovation Hub to find out more about our research activities and how we’re collaborating with others to bring ideas to life.
Here are some of our stories
Innovation Competitions
Transforming Road Markings
Eyes in the Sky
Delivering in partnership
Strong relationships and partnerships are important to us. We work with experts in their fields, from innovators and nature conservationists to safety and customer service specialists. By helping us make better investments, providing co-funding or delivering on our behalf, our partners allow us to do more, together.
Working with us
Many of our designated funds initiatives are delivered in collaboration with other organisations.
If you’re a delivery partner already working with us, and have a new project proposal, please get in touch with your current Highways England project contact.
If you have a project or initiative that might be eligible for funding, and are not already working with us, please tell us more about it by completing an Expression of interest form. Expressions of interest will be considered for funding if they can demonstrate the principles for funding, set out in our Designated funds plan 2020–2025, and a suitable procurement route can be identified.
If you have questions, or would like to discuss an idea before completing the Expression of interest form, please email our designated funds team here.
Download the Expression of interest form

What we’ve achieved with designated funds so far
Between 2015 and 2020, we invested more than £653 million in over 2,000 initiatives, finding new ways to improve our network and its surroundings.

How our work is monitored
The Office of Road and Rail makes sure we meet our commitments to improve England’s motorways and major A-roads, while meeting the needs of road users. They monitor our progress against our performance and efficiency goals.
Transport Focus represents and champions road user needs. We have worked closely with them to develop our plans for the next five years, recognising their role in representing the interests of our customers.
Useful links
The resources in this list set out our investment priorities for 2020 to 2025. Your funding application should demonstrate an understanding of our plans, as well as how your idea can help.
The list of resources below set out our investment priorities for 2020 to 2025. Your funding application should demonstrate an understanding of our plans, as well as how your idea can help.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Our delivery focus:
- Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020-2025
- Strategic business plan 2020-2025
- Connecting the Country: Planning for the long term
Additional resources for the Users and communities fund:
Additional resources for the Environment and wellbeing fund:
- Environment Strategy: Our approach
- A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment
- Sustainable development strategy: Our approach
- The Road to Zero: Next steps towards cleaner road transport and delivering our Industrial Strategy
Additional resources for the Safety and congestion fund
Useful links
The resources in this list set out our investment priorities for 2020 to 2025. Your funding application should demonstrate an understanding of our plans, as well as how your idea can help.
Useful links
The resources in this list set out our investment priorities for 2020 to 2025. Your funding application should demonstrate an understanding of our plans, as well as how your idea can help.
Download the full Designated funds plan 2020–2025
Our delivery focus:
- Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020-2025
- Strategic business plan 2020-2025
- Connecting the Country: Planning for the long term
Additional resources for the Users and communities fund:
Additional resources for the Environment and wellbeing fund:
- Environment Strategy: Our approach
- A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment
- Sustainable development strategy: Our approach
- The Road to Zero: Next steps towards cleaner road transport and delivering our Industrial Strategy
Additional resources for the Safety and congestion fund
Frequently asked questions
Our designated funds are separate to our core work of operating, maintaining and improving England’s strategic road network. They provide ring-fenced funding that we use to invest in and support initiatives that deliver lasting benefits for road users, the environment and communities across England.
Through four designated funding streams, we focus on making improvements that make the biggest difference. Unlike some of our other areas of work, like our Enhancements programme, these improvements are not specified in advance of our five-year road investment periods. Instead, we work flexibly with our customers and stakeholders to invest the funds where they are needed most over the course of the road period.
From 2020 to 2025 – our second road period - we’ll be investing £936 million in designated funds. Our four funding streams for this period are:
- Safety and congestion
- Environment and wellbeing
- Users and communities
- Innovation and modernisation
The Department for Transport provides the investment for designated funds as part of government’s Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020 to 2025 (RIS2).
RIS2 commits the government to spend a total of £27.4 billion during the second Road Period, which runs from 2020 to 2025. Some of this will be used to build new road capacity, but much more will be focused on improving the current strategic road network and its surroundings, so that every part of the country will benefit. Our designated funds - ring-fenced funding streams totalling £936m – come from this investment and play a vital role.
Our designated funds support a range of initiatives that help us to achieve our strategic ambitions and find new ways to improve our road network and its surroundings. The money we invest differs from project to project, from the thousands into the millions. For example, we typically invest our Safety and congestion fund in initiatives that cost between £100,000 and £3 million.
When we receive applications, we look at what a project costs, how it can demonstrate and deliver value for money, and what additional funding partners and stakeholders will provide to help meet the commitments of the initiative.
We welcome applications for funding from Highways England teams and external organisations from the public, third and private sectors. All applications will be subject to the same principles for funding.
You can find out more about the sorts of initiatives we’re looking to fund between 2020 and 2025 in our Designated funds plan 2020-2025.
We may also hold competitions for funding from specific designated funds during this period. These are open to any organisation, and provide opportunities for funding for those not already working with us, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. Find out more about previous competitions on our Innovation Hub.
Our Designated funds plan 2020-2025 sets out the details of all four funds including their purpose, how they align with our performance indicators and strategic priorities, and the specific criteria for funding.
We’ve also compiled a list of useful resources. This list will guide you to key documents that will help you prepare an application that fits with our strategic priorities and the criteria for funding.
Our Designated funds plan 2020-2025 covers key information about the programme, including the purpose of each fund, how they align with our performance indicators and strategic priorities, and the selection criteria for funding applications. It also explains how to start the application process, and make sure that your application supports the aims and themes of the fund that you are applying for.
If you’re a Highways England colleague, or are already working with us, contact your local designated funds lead for more information about how to apply for funding from our designated funds.
If you’re not already working with us, but have a project or initiative that might be eligible for funding, please tell us more about it by completing an Expression of interest form.
If you have further questions about our designated funds, or would like to discuss an idea before completing an Expression of interest form, please email our designated funds team. We’ll connect you with the best person in our organisation to answer any questions you might have and guide you through the application and appraisal process in more detail.
Between 2015 and 2020, we invested more than £650 million in over 2,000 initiatives through our designated funds, finding new ways to improve our road network and its surroundings. Projects included building cycleways and safer road crossings that better integrate our network with other modes of transport, and vital research into methods for improving air quality around our roads.
We also supported projects that reduced noise for people living near our network, and worked with partners to drive forward innovation designed to protect and improve the environment. We’ve helped to improve the safety, health and wellbeing of people traveling and working on our network and the communities surrounding it.
The case studies on this page tell some of the stories from projects funded through our designated funds so far.
The success of our designated funds, and the initiatives we support through them, is based on the contribution they make to delivering our vision for a safer, smoother and more sustainable strategic road network.
Highways England has agreed six performance outcomes with the Department for Transport covering the second road period:
- Improving safety for all
- Providing fast and reliable journeys
- A well-maintained and resilient network
- Delivering better environmental outcomes
- Meeting the needs of all users
- Achieving efficient delivery
When it comes to our designated funds, we expect projects to help us address and deliver these outcomes, and the targets, ambitions and priorities set out in our fund plan.
These are diverse, ranging from improving the condition of drainage systems on our roads, to reducing noise surrounding our network and helping us understand the needs of logistics and coach drivers.
For more details on the specific performance indicators we’ll measure our designated funds work against, read our Designated funds plan 2020-2025.
If you have questions that aren’t answered here, please use the links below to be directed to the relevant contact information for your request.