Drivers wooed with £420m for potholes – and a fuel tax freeze
COUNCILS are being handed £420million to help fill in potholes and repair bridges. Philip Hammond said the money would be made available immediately. Town halls will be also able to compete for a share of a further £150million fund to improve traffic black spots.
‘Every Member of Parliament will testify that potholes are high on the public’s list of concerns,’ Mr Hammond said.
‘So as autumn takes hold, I am making an additional £420million available immediately to local highway authorities to tackle potholes, bridge repairs, and other minor works in this financial year.’
The AA says a ‘pothole epidemic’ has driven the number of breakdowns to a 15-year high. Roads deteriorated last winter in the face of freezing weather, including the ‘Beast from the East’.
Cash- strapped local authorities complain they are £556million short of the cash they need to maintain the roads properly this year.
The latest annual report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimated that it would take town halls across England and Wales 14 years and £9.3billion to complete the backlog of repairs.
Edmund King, the president of the AA, said; ‘The new £420million for potholes is an immediate “treat”, which has to be spent by the end of April. However, the “trick” is the pothole backlog of £9billion, therefore the treat is a drop in the ocean.
‘The race is on to get working before winter sets in. We hope councils will be able to treat roads before they get dangerously tricky.’
Darren Shirley, of the Campaign for Better Transport, welcomed the extra funding, but warned it would ‘do little to address the years of neglect of local road maintenance’.
He added: ‘Rail passengers have suffered appalling service this year and deserve a fares freeze, so we are disappointed that the Government only chose to freeze fuel duty, which undermines public transport and will do nothing to tackle the air pollution crisis.’
As well as the fuel duty freeze, Mr Hammond confirmed a £30billion investment in the road network.
Highways England will be given £25.3billion to spend on national roads and motorways over the five years from 2020. Another £3.5billion will be earmarked to improve major local roads.
Part of the money will be funded by increases to Vehicle Excise Duty, including higher rates for those who buy new diesels.
Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility predict that VED will rake in £33.6billion for the Treasury over the next five years.
Mr Hammond said fuel duty would be frozen again in April to ‘ help families with the cost of living’. He said the nine-year freeze has saved the average driver more than £1,000, and the average van driver more than £2,500.
Howard Cox, founder of the Fair-Fuel UK Campaign, said British motorists remained the ‘ most highly taxed in the world’.
He added: ‘This Government still does not get it, when it comes to our motoring nation.
‘No necessary cut in duty to stimulate the economy, utter silence on those greedy unchecked oil companies continuing to fleece hard pressed motorists at will, and no incentives to move to practical low emissions solutions to improve our air quality.’
Ditching the duty-freeze policy would have been politically explosive, especially with pump prices at four-year highs.
‘Nothing to tackle air pollution’