Guide to Government Policy

England's Department for Transport Circular 01/2022 ("Strategic road network and the delivery of sustainable development") is the strange title for the government policy which is used to regulate motorway service areas, rest areas, all-purpose trunk road service areas and truckstops in England, with the rest of the UK adopting it as best practice. Lay-bys and local facilities are no longer mentioned.

This page explains those regulations and how they have evolved, from a detailed and specific policy to a vague and hands-off one.

For a basic outline of the current minimum requirements, see:

The policy for Ireland, which is similar, is detailed further down.

Circular 01/2022

Charging points were made mandatory in 2022.

Following the UK's fuel delivery crisis in 2021, which was widely blamed on a shortage of delivery drivers, the government announced that the previous Circular 02/2013 would be reviewed again. The aim was to encourage the private sector to build more facilities for HGV drivers. Feedback was sought from stakeholders and the new policy was quietly published in December 2022.

Like its predecessor, the new policy focused on development generally, with service stations getting only a small mention at the end. It gave a lot of mentions to "decarbonisation" and "zero emission transport", and also removed all references to the Highways Agency, instead saying "the company". Despite this, it did result in many changes for service areas:

The policy is available from Department for Transport.

In an unusual turn of events, in December 2023, the Department for Transport made up to £315,000 available for 76 roadside facilities in England to provide better facilities, under their 'HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Match Funding Grant Scheme'. This was allocated throughout 2024, both to major service areas and smaller truckstops.

Circular 02/2013

Leeds Skelton Lake has a broad range of facilities, taking advantage of the relaxed legislation at the time.

On 6 April 2010 a public consultation was launched regarding a review of previous policy (see below). It is focused mainly on the economic benefits of new developments, and as well as replacing Circular 01/2008, it replaced another policy dealing with development on the strategic road network. The main changes for services were:

The new document is available from the Department for Transport.

In 2011, as part of a nationwide review of all traffic signs, some changes to the way services are signed were suggested, with brand logos being permitted on Diagram 2919.1 signs.

In 2015, the Highways Agency became Highways England. While the new company inherited all the policies of the previous one, their stated aim was to pay more attention to the needs of all road users, which could have affected how they interpreted their policies. They then changed their name again in 2021, this time to National Highways. By this stage, what was left of their original roadside facilities department had now shrunk even further.

Circular 01/2008

Services causing congestion at busy junctions caused a preference for online services to be announced.

Circular 01/2008 can viewed be online. It was published in April 2008 after a Highways Agency consultation in 2007 and affected all planning applications created after 2 April. It was the first joint-policy for all roadside facilities, previously these had all been dealt with in separate documents and many aspects went unregulated.

The main changes were:

The document also included a series of formulas for deciding the number of parking spaces and toilets a service area needs. We have reproduced this in an interactive format.

Review of Strategic Road Network Service Areas

Circular 01/2008 established that the Highways Agency should have a greater role in the development of new service areas, so in February 2010 the Highways Agency published a review of the locations of services on motorways and suggested routes where new services should be developed, namely the A1 in North Yorkshire, M42 east of Birmingham, the western section of the M25 and the M5 in Gloucestershire.

It also looked at TRSA locations and suggested upgrading many sites.

MSA Policy Statement

The MSA Policy Statement was mostly about curbing the behaviour of established operators.

Because Circular 01/94 (see below) was created as part of large changes to the motorway service area development process, in July 1998 the MSA Policy Statement attempted to address some issues which had been discovered after that was created. It is known in the trade as HA269, or the Whitty Statement. A copy of it is hosted on Motorway Services Online.

The notable points were that:

One notable issue with the MSA Policy Statement was that it limited shopping areas to 5000 square foot, but didn't state if this applied to the whole site at services with two sides to them. Granada tried to argue that it shouldn't, but the Highways Agency later advised them that it did.

Roads Circular 01/94

Roads Circular 01/94 was created in May 1994. It applies to services in England and Wales and a copy of it is hosted on Motorway Services Online.

In general it just reiterated what was in Circular 23/92, but a couple of the extra points were:

Circular 23/92

Environmental concerns became increasingly important in 1990s design.

Roads Circular 23/92 was created in August 1992 to facilitate the deregulation of the industry. The main change was that the government would no longer own the land motorway service areas are built on, or influence who run them. In keeping with the Thatcher and Major ethos of selling the government's stake in various industries, the Department of Transport were selling their interest in service stations. This would fall under Major's "Citizen's Charter" initiative.

On announcing the changes, the Department of Transport said "there is a need for change", and pointed at a number of new motorways where they hadn't been able to lease service stations quick enough, not to mention the amount of government time that had spent on planning battles. They pointed at the way the Welsh Office had run the M4 as an example of the privatised system working. Quite simply, they argued that the Department of Transport was spending too much time trying to compulsory purchase land for service areas, and they believed developers would be able to acquire land faster.

The aim was to see more, smaller services providing a range of facilities. The government spoke about how service stations would be able choose to specialise in different areas, such as HGV facilities or quality food, and that - if there were privately owned motorways - different motorways could compete on the quality of their service stations.

A copy of Roads Circular 23/92 is hosted on Motorway Services Online.

The key points it established were:

Service areas would need a Traffic Signs Agreement before access to the motorway would be provided, and this agreement would be used to regulate behaviour.

Circular Roads 4/88

Circular Roads 4/88 was the predecessor to 01/94. It was published in November 1988 and a copy of it is hosted on Motorway Services Online.

The policy wasn't about service areas as such, but "controlling development". This was because it assumed all motorway service areas were built on land owned by the government, and were prohibited from misbehaving by their contract with the government and by the government's role as landlord. The sale of alcohol, for example, isn't mentioned as this was covered by the licensing act.

The policy stated that only service areas and junctions can have direct access from the major road network, with a few exceptions on urban trunk roads.

The network of services was described as "key sites with substantial diversification" rather than a network of frequent, smaller services. A policy of not allowing services which force traffic to turn right across dual carriageways was also established.

As an aside, the document also talks about trunk roads which are "being built to near motorway standards", something that became really prevalent in the early 2000s.

1987 Statement

Circular Roads 4/88 was partly based on the statement by Paul Channon, Secretary of State for Transport, on 1 July 1987.

This announced that motorway service areas would now be built 30 miles apart, that competition would be encouraged between sites, and that a network of A-road service areas should be created through private enterprise.

Prior to this, the Motorway Service Area Management Group/Board (1969-1988) were responsible for ensuring motorway service areas acted responsibly. The Prior Report prompted a change in some of the historic legislation. The system of fees was totally overhauled, and moved towards operators purchasing a 50 year lease in exchange for a peppercorn rent, with solo fuel brands allowed and hotels permitted. The government stated in 1979 that they wanted to "disengage" from service station management.

Highway General Division

When the motorways were first built, service stations were defined by the Special Roads Act, later the Highways Act. The regulation was focused on the practical issues, and defined by government policy.

The basic principle of being able to acquire land for facilities was approved in September 1955. More detailed agreements and policies would soon specify:

Guidance notes would be issued to every company who wanted to bid to develop a service area, covering subjects such as capacity and design. These notes became increasingly detailed, containing instructions such as "full use should be made of worthwhile views out of the site where these exist".

One interesting design point was that each side of a service area didn't need to be directly opposite the other, however if they were staggered, traffic needed pass its side before the other. Early motorways had no central barrier, so if they saw a petrol station on the other side, there were fears people might do a U-turn, rather than wait for the one on their side of the road.

In addition, services were contractually required to enter into an agreement with the local police force to pick up vehicles broken down near the service area and tow them to the car park, where basic repairs could be undertaken. This proved to be a source of frustration for many operators.

In 1967 fuel and tobacco duty were removed from the turnover calculations, on the advice of highway engineer Ron Bridle. The building of post offices, takeaway shops, and provision of unisex toilets, were later added to the minimum requirements. Rules were changed to allow for charged long-stay parking, more comprehensive repair facilities and more items in the shops, in 1971.

Additional advice on service area planning was provided in Planning Policy Guidance 13, as well as government statements such as ones in 1974 and 1987. These were particularly useful for A-road services, and said they should be positioned at junctions, at 12-25 mile intervals. Circular 25/58 (from 1958) said that rural roads should have petrol stations 12 miles apart; this was before the modern service area had even been thought of, but it paved the way for future regulations.

The Highways Act allowed compulsory purchase orders to be used to acquire land so that it can be used "in connection with the use" of the road. This was taken to mean service areas couldn't be used to provide facilities which motorists didn't need: in other words they can't be a "destination in their own right", a phrase which was repeated for many decades.

1986 Statement

See also: Private Initiative

A government statement in July 1986 introduced a new method of developing service areas. This was - officially at least - the first time there was an option of building a new motorway service area without having to bid against other developers for a specific site.

Some sites would now be developed by inviting operators to suggest a suitable location. Others would involve negotiating with a single developer. It opened the doors to major changes in 1992.

Scotland

SPP 17 and PAN 75

Both of these documents were published in August 2005 following a reorganisation of transport-related documents. The two documents dealt with a whole range of transport issues as well as services, and can be viewed online - SPP 17, PAN 75. Most of it was the same as NPPG9, with the main exceptions being:

NPPG9

NPPG9 (full title The Provision of Roadside Facilities on Motorways and Other Trunk Roads in Scotland) was published in October 1998 and can be viewed online. The document was very similar to England's Roads Circular 01/94, the main differences being:

Wales

Wales has always relied on developer's proposals for motorway services. Their system was the inspiration for the English system to change in 1992.

Since then, Wales has always adopted England's policies.

Ireland

Ireland finally started to build motorway service areas in the 2010s, but they took time to open.

Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure never built any motorway service areas, arguing that their road network was too small and the existing facilities in nearby towns would suffice. However, the planning system has approved some private developments, as far as 1994.

In the Republic, new service areas were initially developed by the state, but the private sector has proven to be much faster. Transport Infrastructure Ireland have stated that they are neutral on whether new private service areas should be developed, although they often raise concerns with the potential for traffic issues.

Irish policy is more complicated as it is spread across many different departments. There is a planning policy and a design policy. The concept of providing regular rest breaks along major routes is outlined in the European Union's Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) policy, which calls for parking areas every 60 km on core routes by 2040. Irish policy is also informed by EU laws and guidance on subjects such as driving time regulations, and the move to alternative fuel types.

Spatial Planning and National Road Guidelines for Planning Authorities

This 2012 document about the national road network included a small mention for service areas; the first time it had been written in an operational policy. The document is available from gov.ie. This outlined:

2014 Policy

The National Roads Authority published a detailed 'motorway service area policy', detailing the relationship between privately- and state-owned sites, and the procedure for developing new sites. A copy of it is hosted by Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

2023 Review

A public consultation on service area facilities was carried out in September 2019, which raised concerns with the planning process, leading to a policy review. The proposed draft policy is available from Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

The proposed new policy confirms the following changes:

Separate to this, a review of service area road signs had been carried out in 2017, but as the subject came up in the consultation, a new signage policy was launched in July 2023. This included provision for signage for rural petrol stations near a motorway, bypassed towns, alternative routes and service areas on single carriageway roads.

A separate policy for major single carriageway roads is expected to be released in future years.