Senior Department for Transport (DfT) officials have made clear that councils can no longer count on the previous government’s pledge of an extra £8.3bn over 11 years for local highway maintenance.
At a Public Accounts Committee hearing on local roads in England, committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP referenced the ‘pot’ of £8.3bn additional cash said to be redirected from HS2.
Rupert Furness, the DfT’s deputy director for local highways, added: ‘You referred to the £8.3bn from the HS2 programme; that was a figure that the previous government had announced and I think the current government has said it is looking again at the affordability of the various commitments that were made under the Network North plan.
‘So I think that £8.3bn figure is one that no longer has any traction if you like. It’s all being reviewed as part of the spending review.’
Conservative MP Peter Fortune said that Mr Furness’ comments had surprised him. He pointed out that £300m had already been allocated, adding: ‘I think local authorities were expecting that to continue.’
The exchange arose when Sir Geoffey asked the DfT’s permanent secretary, Dame Bernadette Kelly, to set out the funding position for local roads beyond 2025-26.
Highways understands that 2025-26 funding would be £1.775bn, made up of existing funding of £1.275bn, including £150m of Network North cash, plus the £500m announced in the Budget.
Dave Buttery, the DfT’s director of roads strategy, explained that the £150m was previously separately identified because Network North had ‘currency’ with the last government.
Dame Bernadette added that her best understanding of the likely timeline for the Government’s pledge of long-term settlements for local authority funding was three years beyond 2025-26 but that she understood that the Treasury was interested in looking ‘slightly longer term’ for capital allocations.
