The West Midlands Combined Authority (Key Route Network) (Amendment) Order 2026 was made on 14 July 2026 and comes into force on 5 August 2026. Its purpose is narrow but significant: it rewrites the legal trigger for a set of transport powers already held by the West Midlands Combined Authority, moving away from the older category of 'Combined Authority roads'. In place of that term, the Order inserts 'key route network roads' into the 2017 devolution order. According to the instrument and its Explanatory Note, the change is intended to let the West Midlands Combined Authority decide which highways or proposed highways in its area fall within that network, using the designation power in section 107ZA of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. As is common with this class of instrument, it extends to England and Wales, although its practical effect is on the West Midlands combined area.
The 2017 Order previously tied these functions to a static list in Schedule 1. That list defined the roads treated as 'Combined Authority roads', and the 2026 Order now removes it entirely. The legal effect is that the relevant powers will no longer depend on whether a road appears in a schedule attached to the 2017 instrument. They will instead depend on whether the route has been designated as part of the key route network under the 2009 Act. In drafting terms, that is the central change made by the new Order.
This matters because the 2017 settlement gave the West Midlands Combined Authority a concurrent role with its constituent councils in a range of street works and traffic management functions. The Explanatory Note points to powers under sections 83 to 85 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, sections 33, 33A and 36 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, and the related 2000 and 2007 Regulations. The text of the 2026 Order makes targeted amendments to article 8 on permit schemes and article 9 on apparatus affected by highway, bridge or transport works. In each case, the old road category is replaced with the new one, so the existing functions stay in place while the road definition changes.
The procedural route is also set out clearly. The proposal originated with the West Midlands Combined Authority under section 112A of the 2009 Act, and the Secretary of State states that the statutory test in section 110(6) is met. The instrument records that the Secretary of State considered the need to secure effective and convenient local government across the relevant area of competence, identified here as transport and infrastructure. It also states that, following consultation carried out by the combined authority, no further consultation was needed, that both Houses of Parliament approved the draft instrument, and that Lilian Greenwood signed it on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport.
In plain English, the Order does not itself designate any road. Nor does it create a new category of transport power from scratch. What it does is update the legal framework so that the West Midlands Combined Authority can attach existing road management functions to routes that it designates as part of its key route network, including proposed highways as well as existing ones. That matters for a combined authority whose strategic road priorities can change over time. A designation-based model avoids reliance on a fixed schedule, while still keeping the relevant powers within the statutory framework set by Parliament.
For local councils, utilities and contractors, the practical effect is mainly administrative and operational. Where permit schemes, street works coordination or works affecting apparatus are concerned, the question becomes whether a route has been designated within the key route network, rather than whether it appears on a historic schedule. For transport planners, the inclusion of proposed highways is also notable. It provides a legal basis for bringing future corridors within the same structure at an earlier stage, which may help align network planning and street works control before a road is fully open.
The Explanatory Note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sectors is expected. That signals that the Department for Transport sees this as a governance amendment rather than a policy change with immediate economic cost. Even so, the Order sits within a wider legislative update. The footnotes show that the relevant 2009 Act provisions have recently been amended by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. This instrument therefore does two jobs at once: it modernises the wording of the 2017 West Midlands settlement and aligns that settlement with the current statutory basis for key route network designations.