£8 Billion Boost To Repair Roads And Back Drivers In England

17th November 2023

Redirected HS2 funding to resurface more than 5,000 miles of road across the country, improving journeys for all.

driving to become smoother, safer and easier with £8.3 billion of redirected HS2 funding, enough to resurface over 5,000 miles of road.

long-term plan to mend roads across the country, saving motorists up to £440 on vehicle repairs.

biggest-ever uplift in funding for local road improvements thanks to funding from government's £36 billion Network North transport plan.

Millions of people will enjoy smoother, safer and faster road journeys thanks to the biggest-ever road resurfacing programme to improve local roads.

Today (17 November 2023), Transport Secretary Mark Harper has set out the allocations of an £8.3 billion long-term plan, enough to resurface over 5,000 miles of road across the country over the next 11 years. It's one of the key cornerstones of Network North to improve journeys for all.

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.

Each local authority can use its share of the £8.3 billion to identify what local roads are in most need of repair and deliver immediate improvements for communities and residents. This is divided as:

£3.3 billion for local authorities in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber.

£2.2 billion for local authorities in the West Midlands and East Midlands.

£2.8 billion for local authorities in the East of England, South East, South West and, for the first time in 8 years, London.

See a breakdown of the funding allocations for local highways maintenance by authority. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations

We've already confirmed £5.5 billion up until 2024/25, for England outside London, which includes the £200 million announced by the Chancellor at the Budget in March. Today's £8.3 billion nationwide boost comes on top of that and extends until 2034, providing long-term certainty to local authorities and helping to prevent potholes from coming back in the future.

The funding also comes on top of the local transport, road and rail budgets allocated at the last Spending Review and in addition to what local authorities were already expecting for the next decade.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said, "For too long politicians have shied away from taking the right long-term decisions to make life easier for hardworking families - tackling the scourge of potholes being a prime example.

Well-maintained road surfaces could save drivers up to £440 each in expensive vehicle repairs, helping motorists keep more of the cash in their pocket.

This unprecedented £8.3 billion investment will pave the road for better and safer journeys for millions of people across the country and put an end to the blight of nuisance potholes.

Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said, "Most people travel by road and potholes can cause misery for motorists, from expensive vehicle repairs to bumpy, slow and dangerous journeys. Our £8.3 billion boost to repair roads across the country shows that we're on the side of drivers.

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.

According to the RAC, smoother, well-maintained road surfaces could save drivers up to £440 each in expensive vehicle repairs from pothole damage, helping motorists keep more of the cash in their pocket.

This £8.3 billion boost is particularly important when considering that, according to a survey from the AA, fixing potholes and investing in roads maintenance is a priority for 96% of drivers. These funds can also help boost road safety and encourage active travel, as smoother road surfaces will make it safer and easier for cyclists to use roads with greater confidence.

RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, said, "Drivers' biggest bugbear of all is the poor condition of local roads, so the fact the government has found a significant additional pot of revenue should give councils the certainty of funding they need to plan proper long-term road maintenance, something we have been calling for many years.

We hope local authorities will use the money in the most effective way possible by resurfacing the very worst roads, keeping those in reasonable condition in better states for longer through surface dressing and filling potholes as permanently as possible wherever necessary.

This should in time go a considerable way to bringing our roads back to a fit-for-purpose state and saving drivers hundreds of pounds in the process from not having to fork out for frustrating repairs to their vehicles.

To increase transparency and ensure the £8.3 billion leads to an increase in the number of roads being resurfaced, local authorities will be required to publish information on their websites on a regular basis explaining how they are spending the funding in their area.

The measure is a key part of the government's Network North plan, with money redirected from HS2 instead going to improve the daily transport connections that matter most to people.

It builds on tough regulations announced in April this year to crack down on utility companies causing pothole pain with botched streetworks, through stricter inspections and costs for the worst offenders - backed by further measures in our Plan for drivers announced just last month.

These include £70 million to keep traffic flowing, updating 20mph zone guidance for England to help prevent inappropriate blanket use and measures to speed up the rollout of electric vehicle charging.

Edmund King OBE, AA president, said "Perilous roads blighted by potholes are the number one concern for drivers and a major issue for bikers, cyclists and pedestrians.

So far this year, the AA has attended more than 450,000 pothole-related breakdowns. The damage caused can be a huge financial burden for drivers but is also a major safety risk for those on 2 wheels.

The £8.3 billion plan can make a considerable difference in bringing our roads back to the standards, which road users expect, especially if councils use the cash efficiently to resurface our streets. As well as safer roads, eliminating potholes gives confidence to people wanting to cycle and instils pride of place within local communities.

Network North will see £36 billion invested in hundreds of transport projects and initiatives across the country, and includes the extension of the £2 bus fare cap in England to the end of December 2024, as well as over £1 billion to improve bus journeys in the North and the Midlands.

Rick Green, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, said, "This additional funding is good news for local authorities in England and is much needed to help them tackle the backlog of repairs.

We have long been calling for surety of funding over the long-term and the fact that the DfT has committed to this money being available over the next 11 years should allow highways teams to implement more efficient works to improve local road conditions and enhance the resilience of the network once they have details of their allocation.

This long-term investment will also help give the asphalt supply chain confidence to further invest in plant upgrades, materials innovation and technical advancements to support the development and delivery of lower carbon roads in line with the government's net zero ambitions.

The £8.3 billion funding is equivalent to resurfacing 5,157 miles of road. This is based on sector data suggesting an approximate cost of £1 million to resurface 1km of road. £8.3 billion would, therefore, allow 8,300km or 5,157 miles of road to be resurfaced.

Scotland
The Scottish Government is responsible for road spending in Scotland.

Highland - 28 April 2023
£7.7M capital investment for strategic road schemes across Highlands
Members at next week's meeting of the Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee will be allocating the distribution of £7.7M of the £20.5M capital roads budget specifically for carriageway structural maintenance.

Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Many of our roads are suffering from lack of attention due to limited resources over a number of years. The capital allocation for roads has been significantly increased for 2023/24. I am sure the committee members will join me in welcoming the £7.7M of capital funding for strategic projects as it will allow us to address the poor condition on some of our road assets across the region.

"The project list the Committee will discuss has been compiled taking a diverse approach, looking at urban and rural localities as well as all classes of roads, including where representations from Members or the public had been received. These strategic projects are additional to the ones already agreed by Area Committees who have considered their share of capital investment.

"By targeting these strategic projects, which can all be started and completed over the coming year, we hope to make a positive impact with the resources available to us."

Convener Cllr Bill Lobban added: "It was a key budget decision by the Highland Council to significantly increase the capital allocation for road so it is good to know that plans are underway for the money to be spent to improve roads in our communities."

The Highland Council has the longest road network in the UK with over 4,200 miles of local roads, over 1,000 miles of footpaths and more than 2,200 bridges and culverts spanning a region covering one third of Scotland.

The strategic projects members will be considering are spread across all geographic areas of the Highlands and include the following projects.

Badenoch & Strathspey - Overlay works on the A939 Bridge of Brown route

Caithness - Overlay and inlay works to the A99 Wick - John O’Groats route; overlay works on the U2052 at Shebster and on the C1010 Dunnet - Corsback Road.

Inverness - Overlay works on the B851 Farr to A9 and the A833 at Glen Convinth; inlays work on the U4608 Carsegate Road.

Lochaber - Overlay works on the B8005 Gairlochy - Clunes and on the A884 at White Glen; Inlay works on the A681 at Strontian.

Nairn - Overlay works on the B9101 B9090 junction to Geddes Burn

Ross and Cromarty - Inlay works to the A890 at West Achnasheen and overlay works on the A890 at Achnashellach

Skye – Surfacing works on the B886 Fairy Bridge - Stein and on the A851 at Kinloch; Inlay works on the A850 Snizort Bridge-Peiness Road.

Sutherland – Overlay works on the A836 Tongue - Thurso and on the A897 Helmsdale – Melvich road; Edge strengthening works on the B9176 Ardgay – Evanton road and inlay works to the A839 Lairg – The Mound.

The full list is available on the Council’s website
https://www.highland.gov.uk/download/meetings/id/81481/item_10_roads_strategic_capital_allocation

The Committee will also discuss the results of the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey for 2022/23. This independent survey is an annual survey which assesses the condition of the Scottish adopted road network. It is used to calculate a Road Condition Indicator (RCI) that is used by Audit Scotland as a Statutory Performance Indicator for reporting road condition.

In Highland the survey sample equates to approximately 2,910km of road, just under 43% of the total network. The Council’s ranking has improved from 26th position to 25th amongst Scottish Local Authorities.

It is normal practice to wait until all Local Authority results are available before publishing the findings. However, due to the high interest from the public, following the discussions, the committee will be asked to agree that the RCI result for Highland be published on the website ahead of a detailed report being presented to a future committee when all Local Authority results are available for publication.

Audit Scotland report in September 2023 points out the problems for Scottish Government's Infrastructure investment.
Investing in Scotlands infrastructure