DfT teases more detail on multi-billion roads spending plans

The Department for Transport has given fresh detail on the £8.3bn of ‘additional’ local highway maintenance funding due to HS2 cuts.

Speaking at a conference this week, senior Department for Transport (DfT) local transport official Matt Eglinton said that £3.2bn additional maintenance cash for the North, £2.2bn for the Midlands and £2.8bn for the rest of England will be allocated between 2023-24 and 2033-34, with indicative allocations for councils ‘in due course’.

A separate £4.7bn boost for local transport in the North and Midlands will be spread over seven years.

Mr Eglinton revealed that the £4.7bn will be for local authorities in the North and Midlands outside city regions.

It will be badged as Local Integrated Transport Settlements (LITS) and will be spread over a seven-year ‘integrated funding period’ from 2025-26 to 2031-32.

He said that the DfT would expect the money to be used for:

• reducing congestion
• helping buses move through our streets more quickly
• upgrading junctions to make them safer and smoother 
• enabling children to travel to school safely 
• making our streets more pleasant and feel safer, especially at night 
• other projects that communities at a local level will find valuable.

Norfolk County Council is seeking £50m MRN cash for the West Winch Housing Access Road

The Government’s ‘Network North’ last month referred to ‘a brand-new £2.5bn fund to transform local transport in 14 rural counties, smaller cities, and towns outside the big city regions’ in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions and £2.2bn for similar purposes for the East and West Midlands - suggesting this was the basis of LITS.

Mr Eglinton said that indicative funding for councils will be published ‘shortly’ and that the DfT will be publishing guidance to help LITS recipients make the most of funding available and to set out the fund’s accountability framework.