A “record £6bn” will be spent on tackling potholes and improving local roads between 2015 and 2021, the Government announced on 23 December.
The investment equates to an annual sum of £976m which the Government calculates is enough to fix around 18 million potholes across the country.
This is the first time councils have been given locked-in funding over this length of time, which is intended to help them plan ahead and save money for the taxpayer.
Patrick McLoughlin, transport secretary, said: “Poorly maintained local roads, blighted by potholes, are a menace to all road users.
“The £6bn funding I am announcing today will put an end to short term fixes and will mean we have committed £10bn between 2010 and 2021.
“This huge investment is part of our long term economic plan to ensure we have a transport network fit for the 21st century.”
The DfT allocates funding to local authorities based on local need, so councils with larger highway networks receive more of the funding.
More than £4.7bn will be shared between 115 councils, with a further £575m available through a new challenge fund to help repair and maintain local highway infrastructure such as junctions, bridges and street lighting. Details of funding allocations are available as an interactive map.
It was also announced today that a new £578m incentive fund scheme will start in 2016 to “reward councils who demonstrate they are delivering value for money in carrying out cost effective improvements”.
Is this new money or just a pre-election statement. We will get so many of them we will not know our pothole from our roadmarking.
Peter Westminster
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Sorry about that Rod..And All. Got my sums wrong … well the wrong way round. No excuses but thanks for pointing out my error ….. What I meant to say is that this government proposes to spend 6 billion over the next 6 years. That’s 1 billion per year on correcting previous neglect and making our roads safer for all users.
Over the last 6 years it has spent at least 1 billion on promoting cycling. Local Authorities have also contributed heavily to increase that amount considerably. I see by comparison is quite an amount of monies on one single minority group. The other single minority group that has been campaigning for many years and years for a better and safer infrastructure and integration on our road is motorcycling and they have seen very little by comparison. A very very small % of that amount of monies.
Thanks once again Rod…..
There is evidence that this government has spent the I billion mentioned. One just has to go through the last 6 years of this site and its all been reported together with some amounts from some authorities. Just add the figures up its all there.
Bob Craven Lancs Space is Safe Campaigner
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Bob
Let’s see now:-
You reckon that the amount spent on cycling promotion since 2009 is £6,000 million x 6 = £36,000 million.
If we divide this over the 5 years then we get 7,200 million.
Divide that by the 65 million people in UK and we get £110 per person per year.
I know the CTC, British Cycling, Sustrans and other cycling groups are campaigning to get investment on cycling to increase to £10 per person per year. One wonders why they are campaigning for a 91% reduction.
Do you have any evidence for your claim of the UK spending this £36 billion pound on cycle promotion?
Rod King, 20’s Plenty for Us
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Very well but something, somewhere else is going to suffer….I wonder what. 6 billion sounds a lot of money but it’s only less that one sixth of the money already spent on promoting cyclists since 2009 and only half of what reports say is necessary to maintain our roads in sufficiently good order. At least it is a beginning but will it be a first aid patch up and spread aggregate over or will it be a complete renewal of the top 2 inches as it should be?
Bob Craven Lancs…… Space is Safe Campaigner
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