Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department (a) has provided to local authorities to help reduce congestion on local roads in each of the last two years and (b) plans to provide to local authorities for this purpose in each of the next five years.

During the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24 the Department has provided a total of over £2.1 billion of highway maintenance support to local authorities through the Highways Maintenance Block, Potholes Fund, and the additional funding from the Network North announcement. It has also provided £340 million for small scale transport improvements through the Integrated Transport Block to eligible local authorities. All of this will help enable smoother, safer journeys. In addition to this, Combined Authorities receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements receive a settlement that incorporates funding for similar improvements in their areas. The Department is also providing £70 million in 2023/24 for a new traffic signals upgrade programme, which will help traffic flow more freely.

As for future years, the Department has already announced an £8.3 billion uplift for local highway maintenance over the years 2023/24 to 2033/34 as part of the Network North programme. Further details of this are available on gov.uk. In 2024/25 the Department will provide £1.065bn of Highways Maintenance Block and £170 million of Integrated Transport Block funding to eligible local authorities. The profiling of funding in the years beyond 2024/25 will be subject to a future Spending Review.

The Department has also supported various local road schemes across the country through the Major Road Network and Large Local Major programmes, the details of which are available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-north.