Derbyshire council’s highways chief has expressed her disappointment that the new Government has not yet confirmed if it is sticking with the previous administration’s plan to invest an extra £8.3bn in roads across the country.
The Conservative county council’s Cabinet approved at a meeting, on September 18, the receipt of just over £3m of Labour Government funding towards roads maintenance which it has welcomed but also claims that it is less than was received last year.
Cllr Charlotte Cupit, Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, said so far the Government has not confirmed whether it will also be sticking with the previous Conservative Government’s plan to invest an extra £8.3bn in roads across the country.
She added that the council will be contacting the Government to make the case that as everyone heads towards the autumn budget the Government should confirm the planned £8.3bn investment as soon as possible and provide more money for highways.
Cllr Cupit added that the latest £3.014m of Government funding will be used for permanent road repairs in the county and it has been welcomed but with damage to roads and highways caused by Storm Babet and the impact of climate change this figure is still less than was received last year.
She told the meeting: “This additional money is welcome but it is a very small amount at a time when we should be wrapping up highway maintenance.”
Cllr Cupit told the meeting the council will be contacting the Government and the Labour East Midlands Combined County Authority’s Mayor, Claire Ward, to make the case for more funding for highways.
She said: “We also need to make the case to the regional mayor for funding to the highways but as yet that has not come through.
“I am disappointed that I have been unable to meet with her. We need to discuss Derbyshire’s specific highways challenges.”
The council has previously put the county’s extensive pothole problems down to ageing highways, floods and freezing conditions during the winter months.
Council Leader, Cllr Barry Lewis, told the meeting: “Our highways budget has remained static in the last decade which is startling when you consider the costs and that could continue if we are going to get on top of the issues of our highways network.”
Following £1.1m of work on a new asphalting road treatment programme and the introduction of a new pothole repairing material in the county, the council now aims to use its latest £3m of Government funding for further roads maintenance.
The latest £3.014m of funding is in addition to the base capital funding the council gets from the Government each year for maintaining roads, pavements, structures and all other highways’ assets and it is to be used for resurfacing roads and for work to prevent potholes.
Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet also approved the use of a new framework to allow the council to procure various specialist products and services to maintain the county’s roads and to allow for continued work on trialling new materials and machinery for repairing roads.
The £3.014m of funding is to come from the Government’s Department for Transport Network North’s reallocated HS2 Capital Funding pot for 2024-25.
