Highways Financing Bill: Private Firms and UK Toll Roads

By Matthew Croxford · 9 Oct 2026 · Updated 20 Oct 2026

Short answer: Yes, but not automatically. The Highways (Financing) Bill, published 6 October 2026, lets private firms fund, build and run major roads via a Regulated Asset Base model, charging tolls as licence holders on qualifying projects like the Lower Thames Crossing. Tolls would be capped and regulated by the Office of Rail and Road, applying to England only.

If you've seen headlines about private firms being handed the keys to UK toll roads, you're not imagining it. The Government has introduced the Highways (Financing) Bill, published in full by the Department for Transport on 6 October 2026, and it genuinely would let private companies build, run and charge drivers to use certain major roads in England. It's early days, but it's worth understanding what's actually proposed before the rumour mill runs ahead of the detail.

This isn't a done deal and it won't change your commute tomorrow. But it's a significant shift in how England's road network could be funded, so here's a plain-English look at what the bill covers, how tolling would work in practice, and what it might mean for your pocket further down the line.

What is the Highways (Financing) Bill?

The idea first surfaced at the State Opening of Parliament, when King Charles III outlined the Labour Government's new Highways (Financing) Bill in the annual state opening of Parliament, intending to speed up the process of roadbuilding in England by enabling private investors to effectively fund large infrastructure projects, rather than (or in addition to) the taxpayer. The bill itself followed later, presented to Parliament by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, and the Bill was presented by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on 10 September, intended to facilitate private investment in major road infrastructure.

The Department for Transport then published its full overview on 6 October 2026. According to that document, the Highways (Financing) Bill establishes a statutory framework to enable private sector investment to construct, operate, maintain and improve new and existing strategic road infrastructure through a regulated asset base ('RAB') model and for private companies to act as a highway authority for that infrastructure. You can read the official GOV.UK overview yourself if you want the detail straight from the source.

Where does the RAB model come from?

Regulated Asset Base funding isn't a new concept dreamt up for roads. It's the same model used to finance big-ticket infrastructure in other regulated sectors, and the appeal for Government is simple: private money comes in up front, and the firm recovers its costs over time through a regulated charge rather than waiting for a Treasury cheque.

How would private toll roads actually work?

Under the proposed system, the Highways (Financing) Bill plans to establish a Regulated Asset Base funding model for major road projects, under which private firms and individuals will be granted the opportunity to invest in projects as 'licence holders', with the key draw for financiers being that the Government will allow them to charge tolls in order for drivers to use a piece of infrastructure which they hold the licence for, whether it be a road, bridge or tunnel.

Crucially, this wouldn't happen automatically. The Bill does not automatically introduce tolls on roads across England. Instead, it establishes a legal framework under which tolling could be authorised for qualifying projects. The Office of Rail and Road, better known for regulating the railways, has been earmarked to oversee the scheme. To ensure things are "well maintained, efficiently managed, and provided at a fair and proportionate cost to users", the Government says the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will be tasked as a regulator of keeping firms in-line.

A named project: the Lower Thames Crossing

This isn't purely theoretical. The legislation is relevant to proposals such as the Lower Thames Crossing, which is intended to benefit from private investment through a regulated asset base funding model, and the ORR has confirmed that the Bill would enable it to take on an economic regulatory role in relation to the project. If you drive the Dartford Crossing regularly, this is the scheme most likely to feel the effects of the new framework first.

Not just England

Worth noting if you're reading this from across the border: the Bill will extend to England and Wales, and apply to England only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for road funding and aren't covered by this legislation.

What could it mean for the cost of driving?

This is the part that's got drivers and motoring groups twitchy, and understandably so. The Government's own impact assessment doesn't shy away from the risk. An official impact assessment warns that charges could be higher than under a publicly delivered model, acknowledging a risk that private operators could use their position at roads, bridges and tunnels to set higher user charges, potentially affecting the affordability of schemes for road users and wider economic outcomes.

The same assessment flags a problem familiar from other regulated industries: the regulator knowing less than the company it's regulating. It states that the ORR "may lack sufficient capability to regulate" the schemes and highlights the potential for private companies to have better information than the regulator about the costs involved in delivering and operating infrastructure, which the assessment warns could create an incentive for companies to inflate costs where those costs can subsequently be recovered through user charges.

The Department for Transport's counter is that no licence holder gets a free hand. The DfT states that "A licence holder would not be able to introduce new tolls without permission, and any tolls introduced under this legislation will be capped and independently regulated".

What happens if a licence holder fails?

There's also a safety net built in for exactly this scenario. A so-called 'backstop' will also be set up to ensure roads remain open and financial losses are minimised if the licence-holding private firm fails. If a firm breaches the terms of its licence, the consequences aren't trivial either: not complying with ORR regulations could see licence holders charged up to 10 per cent of their annual earnings.

Enforcement: what it means if you try to dodge a toll

The bill doesn't just set out how tolls would be charged, it also covers how they'd be enforced, and the detail here has raised a few eyebrows. As per the first draft of the Bill, firms will be given the power to employ private agents to break into cars that are suspected to be passing through tolls using "false documents", the same goes for those suspected of using jammers or any other equipment to cause "interference" with toll equipment, and being found doing so or "intentionally disrupting" agents could land you a six-month prison sentence or a fine of up to £500. That's a serious set of powers to hand to a private company, which is precisely why opposition MPs and motoring groups have been picking over the small print.

Why motoring groups aren't celebrating

Motoring organisations have been quick to point out that drivers already pay substantially for road use through existing duties. AA president Edmund King has argued that drivers already pay for roads with billions of pounds in fuel duty and vehicle excise duty, so extra charges would be a toll too far. It's a fair point: for most of the network, there's no direct link between what a driver pays in duty and the state of the road beneath their wheels, so a new toll on top can feel like paying twice for the same stretch of tarmac.

Toll roads aren't new to Britain, of course. England has had tolling in some form for decades, including the M6 Toll and a handful of crossings. A Commons Library briefing on the subject looks at the only toll road in England along the M6 corridor and at four tolled crossings, at Dartford, across the Humber, the Mersey and the Severn. What's different this time is the scale of ambition and the explicit intention to use this model for new, large strategic schemes rather than one-off historic crossings.

What this means for your next journey

Nothing changes at the barrier tomorrow. The bill still has to make its way through Parliament, and the Government itself has stressed it expects the model to be used sparingly rather than bolted onto every A-road in the country. If you drive a route that might one day fall under a RAB licence, like stretches around the Lower Thames Crossing, it's worth keeping an eye on local news as the scheme develops rather than panicking about a toll gate appearing overnight.

In the meantime, it's a sensible moment to stay on top of the basics of car ownership generally. Running a quick check on your own vehicle's MOT history, outstanding recalls and current market value only takes a minute with our reg lookup tool, and it's free. And if you're weighing up buying a used car for a daily commute that might one day cross a tolled stretch of road, it's worth running a proper vehicle history check first, so you know the car isn't carrying outstanding finance, hasn't been written off, and isn't recorded as stolen before you hand over any money. For more on buying and running a car sensibly, our guides cover the ground in plenty more detail.

The bottom line

The Highways (Financing) Bill is a genuine attempt to unlock private capital for roadbuilding without leaning further on the taxpayer, and the Government's safeguards, an independent regulator, capped tolls and a financial backstop, are real features of the draft legislation rather than vague promises. But the Government's own impact assessment admits the risk of higher charges than a publicly funded model would produce, and that's the tension at the heart of this bill: cheaper for the Treasury doesn't automatically mean cheaper for the driver. Expect scrutiny of this one right through its passage into law, and expect motoring groups to keep pushing back on the detail as specific schemes, like the Lower Thames Crossing, start to take shape under the new framework.

Figures on fuel duty, vehicle excise duty and the 10% penalty cap referenced above come from the Government's own impact assessment and industry reporting on the Bill, and the toll levels for any individual scheme will ultimately depend on the licence granted. For the latest confirmed detail as the Bill progresses, check the Department for Transport's published documents and the Office of Rail and Road's own guidance directly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Highways (Financing) Bill? It is a statutory framework, published by the Department for Transport on 6 October 2026, letting private firms fund, build and operate major road infrastructure through a regulated asset base model, and act as highway authority for it.

Will the Highways (Financing) Bill introduce tolls on all English roads? No, it does not automatically introduce tolls across England. It creates a legal framework allowing tolling to be authorised only for specific qualifying projects, overseen by the Office of Rail and Road.

Which road scheme is linked to the new toll framework? The Lower Thames Crossing is named as a project intended to benefit from private investment through a regulated asset base model, with the ORR confirmed to take an economic regulatory role there.

What happens if someone tries to dodge a toll under the Bill? Firms could employ private agents to break into cars suspected of using false documents or jamming equipment, and intentionally disrupting agents could mean a six-month prison sentence or a fine of up to £500.