The Government has announced £8.3 billion of additional highways maintenance funding over the period 2023 to 2034, comprising:
Across England, local highway authorities will receive £150 million this financial year, followed by a further £150 million for 2024/2025, with the rest of the funding allocated through to 2034.
The Government said the funding represents an increase of around two-thirds in DfT support for local roads. Fifteen per cent of the funds will be allocated at a later date with the details still to be confirmed.
Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said: “Today’s biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements is a victory for all road users, who will enjoy smoother, faster and safer trips – as we use redirected HS2 funding to make the right long-term decisions for a brighter future.”
Michelle Gardner, Deputy Policy Director at business group Logistics UK said: “Any investment to improve the state of Britain’s roads is welcomed by logistics businesses, which have been severely impacted by the decline in the state of highways in recent years. Our members currently face significant bills for repairs caused by pothole damage (on average, £575.74 for an HGV and £246.87 for a van) while the impact of taking vehicles off the roads for repair is interrupting the supply chain.
“Given the size of the roads repair backlog and that logistics businesses pay £5 billion a year in Fuel Duty and Vehicle Excise Duty, the lack of urgency to implement plans is disappointing: our sector wants to see this new funding spent more quickly, to get our roads back into a good state, and more funding allocated after that.
“We want to see sustainable, long-term funding for local authorities to address the pothole problem – rather than being dependent on political cycles. As well as funding transport maintenance, our members also need to see a long-term transport investment plan for logistics that resolves the capacity constraints that will result from not building HS2 beyond Birmingham.”