Shaun Davies, Member of Parliament for Telford, has praised the Government’s announcement that the annual roads budget for local authorities will be doubled with a £7.3bn funding increase – including £36.1m for Telford & Wrekin.
The Chancellor has confirmed the investment over the course of this Parliament, as part of the Government’s pledge to fill 7 million potholes over the course of 2026. The money is split into “baseline” funding, which is available to all local authorities across England, and “incentive” funding, which local authorities can unlock by publishing data on their pothole repairs online and following best practice. The Government had already introduced incentive funding, but the latest announcement more than triples the share of the £7.3bn that will be tied to transparency from 8% to 30% – worth over £500m in total.
Telford & Wrekin Council will receive £26.3m in baseline allocation and £9.8m in incentive allocation over the duration of the current Parliament. The money will be used to repair existing potholes, prevent new ones, and carry out general road repairs to make journeys faster and smoother.
This announcement is on top of the almost £1.6bn the Government has invested in roads for this year, a £500m on the previous year. In last week’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a number of measures to support drivers and other travellers, including maintain the 5p cut on fuel duty, freezing rail fares and extending the bus fare cap.
Shaun Davies MP said: “Potholes are a scourge, not just on the tens of thousands of drivers in Telford, but on our cyclists and everyone who uses our roads. The Government has already shown its commitment to fixing our roads and investing in our transport system, and this record funding increase takes that to another level. I’m also pleased to see that Councils will be rewarded for good behaviour – last year, Telford & Wrekin Council filled in 60% more potholes than residents reported, so I know Telford will benefit from such a fair system.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP said: “We’re delivering the biggest-ever investment in road maintenance to fix Britain’s broken roads. We’re putting our money where our mouth is, giving councils the long-term investment they need to plan properly and get things right first time, saving you money on costly repairs and making a visible difference in our communities. This isn’t patchwork politics, we are starting the hard work of fixing Britain’s roads for good.”
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