Commentary on Sections Schedule 2 Road Investment Strategy
53.Schedule 2 describes the procedure for setting and varying a Road Investment Strategy. Paragraph 1(2) contains a transitional provision to the effect that the procedure does not apply for the first Road Investment Strategy, so long as the Secretary of State publishes it within a year of section 3 coming into force.
54.Part 1 governs the procedure for setting a Road Investment Strategy. It describes the steps that the Secretary of State takes and those steps the company takes in response. The Secretary of State’s initial proposals must specify objectives to be achieved by the company, the financial resources to be provided by the Secretary of State and the time period which is to be covered by the proposed Road Investment Strategy. The Secretary of State may only finalise a Strategy if satisfied that appropriate consultation has taken place. It is anticipated that some or all of that consultation may ordinarily be undertaken by the strategic highways company.
55.Part 2 governs the procedure for varying a Road Investment Strategy which has been settled and published. The procedure is similar to that described in Part 1, except that there is a specific requirement on both the Secretary of State and the strategic highways company to have regard to the desirability of maintaining stability and certainty in respect of Road Investment Strategies.