Committee publication · Correspondence · 5 December 2025
Letter to the Secretary of State for Transport related to evidence received by the committee from National Highways, 4 December 2025
Summary
The Environmental Audit Committee writes to the Transport Secretary regarding evidence from National Highways on environmental sustainability. The letter raises concerns that National Highways' Chief Executive initially misrepresented to Parliament who funded £millions of tree replanting on the A14 project, later admitting it came from public funds, not contractors. The committee seeks assurance on value for money and biodiversity net gain transparency.
Key findings
- National Highways CEO initially told the committee tree replanting costs were borne by the contractor; he later admitted costs came from public funding due to deficiencies in contracting terms
- Local Cambridgeshire County councillors struggled to access information about the tree planting failure, prompting committee intervention
- National Highways acknowledged lessons learned and contractual gaps that made costs unrecoverable from contractors
- Committee expresses concern the CEO was unaware of replanting costs despite significant media and local interest in the A14 case
Tone
CriticalTopics
transport-infrastructurebiodiversityenvironmental-sustainabilitypublic-financetransparency
Key actors
Toby Perkins MP, Heidi Alexander MP, Nick Harris, National Highways, Department for Transport, Cambridgeshire County Council
Notable line
“… it in fact came from National Highways—i.e. public—funding”
Key Quotes
“However, I felt compelled to bring this to your attention as the Secretary of State is accountable to Parliament for the activities of National Highways and reports on its performance.”
“I am very concerned that the local council representatives were unable to secure a reasonable level of transparency from National Highways on this issue, leading to our involvement.”
“Given the significant responsibility the organisation therefore has for the natural environment, please can you set out in reply to this letter the steps your Department and others are taking to ensure that: a) value for money is delivered for the taxpayer; b) National Highway's responsibility to deliver biodiversity net gain is not an afterthought”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗