ROAD MAINTENANCE BUDGETS FACE £400M CUT

Many road users are becoming frustrated by the poor quality of roads and pavements in the street with potholes not being repaired and the surface of pavements not being maintained but it looks as if it could get worse and those who have waited for repairs could be waiting even longer.

Funding for local road maintenance has been cut by £400m this year, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. It said the reduction in the capital funding allocated to councils in 2021/22 is the equivalent of fixing or preventing over 9.5 million potholes.

The LGA is calling on the Government to use the Spending Review to plug the £400m funding gap and allocate an additional £500m per year to councils for road repairs. It also wants future capital allocations to take into account the significant inflation rates in highways construction and maintenance costs.

GRITTING THE ROADS

Local authority leaders have warned that driver shortages could affect gritting services this winter. Many councils have been struggling to keep their waste collection services on the road due to the current shortage of HGV drivers and the Local Government Association (LGA) has now warned that the driver crisis is likely to hit local gritting services.

While most councils have been able to keep services running, some may find that their gritting services are affected in the same way that some have seen waste collection services impacted. As they do every year, councils will be working proactively to plan ahead and ensure that their winter services are as resilient as they can be but driver shortages are a concern

ADINJC