The Highways (Financing) Bill sits at the intersection of three pre-existing regimes, none of which on its own delivers the financing innovation the King's Speech describes. The first is the Highways Act 1980 regime — the parent statute governing highway authorities, construction, maintenance and (where used) tolling. The second is the Infrastructure Act 2015 regime — the statutory Road Investment Strategy under which RIS3 (2026-2031) commits £27bn of public capital to the strategic road network through National Highways. The third is the Planning Act 2008 NSIP consenting regime, amended by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which has just delivered development consent for the Lower Thames Crossing and produced four 2025 SIs (DCO plus three amendment/correction orders) 1234.
The Bill's doctrinal innovation is to graft a Regulated Asset Base licensing layer onto this stack. RAB is not new to UK infrastructure law — it has been used for energy networks, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and Sizewell C — but it has never been applied to strategic roads. The architecture as briefed has three load-bearing elements: (i) a statutory licence regime under which private companies, rather than National Highways, deliver named major road schemes; (ii) an independent regulator (unnamed in the briefing) to set tariffs, performance standards and enforce by penalty or licence revocation; and (iii) statutory backstop measures so the road remains open even if the licensee fails. The Bill will set out the powers and responsibilities of licence holders and the regulator's enforcement toolkit.
The Lower Thames Crossing is doctrinally significant because it is the test case: a consented NSIP scheme (DCO made April 2025, granted by SoS in March 2025 51) for which the financing route is being changed mid-stream. The February 2026 Accounting Officer Assessment 6 is the working VFM/affordability baseline; whether it survives the RAB pivot, and whether a fresh AO assessment will issue, is contested in PQs (PQ 130019, 29 April 2026 7).
The Bill does NOT replace RIS3 or the Highways Act 1980 framework — National Highways retains its strategic role for the rest of the network and the £27bn public programme continues. The RAB regime is a parallel financing track for specifically nominated 'key road schemes', the LTC being the first. This means highway-authority duties of repair, the s.58 special defence in the parent Act (which is itself being narrowed by Sir Christopher Chope's Private Member's Bill 86), and the s.59 statutory consultee architecture all continue unchanged for the rest of the network.
Finally, the Bill is the road-sector counterpart of the wider 'build it at pace' agenda set by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 [candpk=192553] and the SR25 fiscal framework 8. Together they form a coherent triad: planning acceleration (PIA 2025), public capital programming (RIS3 / SR25), and private capital mobilisation (this Bill).