Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of highways maintenance funding allocated to the West Midlands for 2025–26.

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is in receipt of £1.05bn of devolved City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) funding for the period 2022/23 to 2026/27, and has been allocated £2.4bn of Transport for City Regions (TCR) funding for the period up until 2031/32. These funding settlements are for investment in the West Midlands local transport network including local highways maintenance.

For 2025/26, the Department has allocated £1.6 billion in capital funding for local highways maintenance nationally, including a £500 million uplift compared to the previous year. 25% of this uplift is contingent on local authorities adhering to reporting requirements and demonstrating that they are following best practice in highways maintenance. WMCA are eligible to receive an additional £8.6 million from this additional funding.

Decisions on how this funding is spent across the city region rests with the combined authority in line with local priorities.