Creation, definitions and closure

Creation

A highway is a way over which there exists a public right of passage. A claim to a public right of way may be based either on the common law doctrine of dedication and acceptance or on some other statutory provision.

Following the commencement of the Infrastructure Act 2015, Highways England has taken over the responsibility for strategic roads from the Highways Agency. See News Analysis: Infrastructure Act 2015—what will it mean in practice?

Local authorities have powers to create new highways (including cycle tracks), as well as footpaths and bridleways under the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980).

Creation of highways at common law

Both dedication by the owner and user by the public must occur to create a highway otherwise than by statute.

A highway authority needs to invoke statutory powers to accept a dedication on behalf of the public.

Statutory adoption of highways

Where highways are created, they may or may not be maintainable at public expense. There are three ways by which this can happen:

•
a process initiated by the landowner, or
•
a process initiated by the highway

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Local Government News

MHCLG publishes guidance on Awaab's Law timeframes for social housing repairs

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published updated non-statutory guidance to help social landlords understand their responsibilities under Awaab's Law. The guidance relates to the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, which come into force on 27 October 2025 and covers timeframes for repairs in the social rented sector in England.

DHSC announces Liberty Protection Safeguards consultation for first

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a consultation on Liberty Protection Safeguards to be launched in the first half of 2026, jointly run with the Ministry of Justice. The consultation will seek views from families, carers and practitioners including social workers, nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists. Responses will inform a final Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice to be laid in Parliament. The revised Code of Practice will incorporate changes in case law, legislation, organisational structures, terminology and good practice since 2007, addressing challenges in the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards framework. The announcement comes as the Supreme Court reviews what constitutes deprivation of liberty in a case from Northern Ireland, with the UK government granted permission to intervene. The current system has a backlog of 123,790 individuals and the proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards aim to streamline processes, reduce intrusive assessments and focus on the most vulnerable people. The last consultation on this topic occurred in 2022 without resulting in changes.

Education Committee urges government not to cut Universal Credit for care leavers

The House of Commons Education Committee has urged ministers not to reduce Universal Credit support for care leavers aged under-22, following the Department for Education's (DfE) response to the Committee's children's social care report. The government stated 'no decisions have been made yet' on proposed Universal Credit cuts for under-22s, with any savings intended for the new Youth Guarantee scheme. The DfE committed to consulting the Committee on potential profit caps for children's services providers and agreed to pilot co-located mental health services for looked after children. The government rejected several recommendations including a National Care Offer and national workforce strategy, while confirming it will consult young people during the Timms Review on Personal Independence Payments reform.

Cabinet Office publishes Anti-slavery Risk Tiering Tool guidance

The Cabinet Office has published guidance on the Anti-slavery Risk Tiering Tool (ARTT). The tool replaces the Home Office Modern Slavery Risk Assessment Tool and has been developed by a cross-departmental team including representatives from UK Parliament, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Department for Transport and Integrated Corporate Services. The ARTT is aligned with Procurement Policy Note 009 on tackling modern slavery in government supply chains and incorporates requirements introduced by the Procurement Act 2023. The tool rates procurement contracts as high, medium or low risk based on responses to six risk-characteristic questions covering factors including industry, commodity and supply chain geography. It incorporates Global Slavery Index 2023 data and the US Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor 2024. The tool includes automated risk-rating functionality and provides guidance on due diligence questions, country risk data and recommended next steps for compliance with modern slavery requirements in government procurement.

View Local Government by content type :

News