Roads: Chatham and Aylesford

(asked on 22nd May 2019) - View Source
Questioner
Tracey Crouch Portrait
Tracey Crouch
(Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding he has allocated to repair roads in Chatham and Aylesford.

Answered by
Michael Ellis Portrait
Michael Ellis
This question was answered on 10th June 2019

Local highway authorities are responsible for the maintenance of the local road network in their area. Chatham’s roads are the responsibility of Medway Council, as highway authority, and Aylesford’s roads are the responsibility of Kent County Council, as highway authority.

The funding provided by the Department for Transport for highway maintenance, including pothole repair, to Medway Council and Kent County Council since 2015 is shown in the table below. The table highlights the Department for Transport allocated Medway Council an additional £1.1m and Kent County Council an additional £12m funding in the 2018/19 financial year to support local highways maintenance services, including the repair of roads.

Year

Funding Stream

Funding £m Medway

Kent

2015/16

Highways Maintenance Block

2.54

27.27

2016/17

Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)

2.47

26.38

2016/17

Pothole Action Fund

0.13

1.47

2017/18

Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)

2.45

26.35

2017/18

Pothole Action Fund

0.34

3.72

2017/18

Flood Resilience Fund

0.13

3.72

2018/19

Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)

2.47

25.55

2018/19

Pothole Action Fund

0.14

1.56

2018/19

Budget £420 million

1.12

12.09

2019/20

Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)

2.47

26.52

2019/20

Pothole Action Fund

0.07

0.79

2019/20

Flood Resilience Fund

0.07

0.79

Total

14.40

156.21

The Department funds local highway maintenance in England, outside of London, through Highway Maintenance Block Funding (HMBF), worth about a £1 billion a year.

  • HMBF is paid through a formula based on the assets a local authority is responsible for such as: length of road network; number of bridges and; the number of street lighting columns
  • From 2015 – 2021 the Department is providing £6.6 billion for local highway maintenance in England, outside of London.
  • In the October Budget, the Chancellor announced he was providing an additional £420 million for local highway maintenance, in England.

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