The Minister for Roads says most of BREP finishes in early 2027 and Oakalls Roundabout in summer 2027, and refuses to hand the A38 job to National Highways.

The Government has put a later finish date on the BREP Bromsgrove roadworks than the county council has published anywhere. In a letter to the town’s MP, the Minister for Roads says the Oakalls Roundabout works are scheduled to finish in summer 2027, and the rest of the A38 programme in early 2027.

Worcestershire County Council’s own phase 3 page says only that “some activities” will continue into spring 2027. Its frequently asked questions page now gives the end of March 2027. Neither mentions summer.

The letter is from Justin Madders MP, Minister for Roads, dated 4 September 2026. It replies to a letter Bradley Thomas, MP for Bromsgrove, sent to the Transport Secretary on 11 August, and it refuses the request that letter made.

Three different finish dates, all still published

Bromsgrove News checked all three sources on 10 September.

Published completion dates for A38 BREP phase 3, checked 10 September 2026
SourceWhat it says
Council BREP frequently asked questionsPhase 3 "is due to complete by the end of March 2027"
Council phase 3 page, dated July 2026"Some activities associated with Phase 3 will continue into Spring 2027"
Minister for Roads, letter of 4 September 2026"The majority of the Programme is currently expected to be completed in early 2027, with works at Oakalls Roundabout scheduled to finish in summer 2027"

The FAQ answer has moved in the last week. When we checked the same page on 3 September it still said phase 3 was due to complete by the end of 2026. The council has changed the answer without announcing it.

The Minister’s date did not come from his own department. His letter says officials “sought further information from the Council”, so summer 2027 for Oakalls is Worcestershire County Council’s own figure, given to the Department for Transport, and later than the figure on the council’s website.

The Government will not take the scheme over

Bradley Thomas had asked the Transport Secretary to instruct National Highways to “review this scheme and administer it to completion”, on the grounds that the county council lacks the expertise for a scheme of this size.

The Minister declined. His reasoning is short:

  • Worcestershire County Council is responsible for delivering BREP and managing its contractors.
  • The Department monitors progress as part of its funding arrangements but “does not have a role in the day-to-day management of the works”.
  • The council reports progress through quarterly monitoring returns.
  • Any further concerns should go to Rachel Hill, the council’s Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure.

He gives the same cause of delay the council has given all year: previously uncharted utility infrastructure, “particularly Cadent gas assets”, which forced additional investigations, design changes, diversion works and changes to the order the work is done in. Traffic management requirements, regulatory approvals and keeping the road safely open are listed as further factors.

A review nobody in Bromsgrove has seen

The letter discloses something new. The council commissioned an independent engineering and communications review in October 2025, and the Minister summarises its conclusions:

  • Many of the delays arose from unforeseen utility, environmental and third-party constraints “that could not reasonably have been predicted”.
  • Traffic conditions on the A38 were influenced by wider network pressures and peak-time demand, “rather than construction activity alone”.
  • It recommended improvements to public communications.

The council has not published that review. Its response, as the Minister describes it, was communications: website updates, social media, a dedicated email address, advance notification of works, public information events and direct contact with affected businesses.

That is worth holding against what the council’s own pages actually do. On 10 September its BREP “latest news” page still led on a Charford Road closure that ran from 27 to 29 August.

What happened in the Commons today

Thomas raised it at business questions on Thursday 10 September. He told the House that Bromsgrove “continues to grind to a halt” and that he had written to the Transport Secretary with 34 questions and received a reply that “did not answer a single one”.

He asked the Leader of the House to press the Transport Secretary. Sir Alan Campbell replied:

It is no bad thing when MPs are irritants to the Government, and I commend the hon. Gentleman for the work that he does for his constituents on this important matter. I am disappointed that he did not get a proper reply to the questions that he asked. Let me take that away, take it up with the Minister and see whether we can get him a better reply.

That is a commitment to chase, not a commitment to answer. Nothing in it changes who runs the scheme.

What the scheme has cost so far

The council’s own figures, published on the phase 3 page and current to the end of July 2026:

A38 BREP funding and spend, Worcestershire County Council, July 2026
ItemAmount
Department for Transport£43,164,981
Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership£1,317,293
Section 106 developer contributions£5,216,238
Total programme£49,698,512
Spent to the end of July 2026£34,666,977

The Department for Transport is paying 87 per cent of the bill, which is why the MP went to it, and why the Minister’s answer that Whitehall has no day-to-day role matters. On this money, the accountability sits with the county council and nowhere else.

What it means for you

  • If you are planning around the A38 works, use summer 2027 for Oakalls Roundabout, not spring. That is the newest date and it came from the council itself.
  • The rest of phase 3 is now given as early 2027 by the Minister and the end of March 2027 by the council’s FAQ. Those two are compatible; the phase 3 page’s “spring 2027” is the vaguest of the three.
  • The Government is not taking over the scheme. If you want a complaint answered, the council is the body that has to answer it, and the Minister named Rachel Hill, Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure, as the contact.
  • The council has promised its next programme update in October 2026. That is the next point at which the dates can change again.
  • Nothing is currently booked on the A38 until 28 September. Our Bromsgrove roadworks and travel page lists every live and proposed closure in the district.

Sources