Some of the biggest names in the sector have joined together to call on the UK Government to introduce five-year budgets for local roads as part of its upcoming Spending Review.
The Association for Consultancy and Engineering, the Mineral Products Association (MPA), the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), and the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE), have jointly written to the chancellor on the issue.
The leading trade bodies urged Rachel Reeves to introduce the long-desired five-year funding cycles for local roads, just as has been done on the national network, to 'maximise efficiency, drive innovation, and provide long-term certainty for the industry'.
IHE chief executive Lyle Andrew said: 'The IHE believes that long-term funding would allow employers and training providers to plan strategically, ensuring skills provision meets industry demand.
'Stable, long-term funding would also create stronger partnerships between employers, professional bodies, and training institutions, resulting in a workforce capable of meeting evolving infrastructure needs.
'By implementing five-year funding commitments, the Government would enable businesses to invest in upskilling their workforce with confidence, ensuring the UK’s engineering sector remains resilient and capable of delivering critical transport and infrastructure projects.'
CECA director of operations Marie-Claude Hemming said a five-year funding cycle would 'allow companies working in the sector to unlock efficiencies, foster innovation, and deliver better outcomes for millions of road users'.
'Should the Government work with industry to implement five-year funding cycles, we believe it will see increased returns on this investment in terms of growth, job creation, and the economic multipliers a world-class, future-ready roads network will deliver.'
And Robert McIlveen of the MPA said medium-term budgets would allow 'proactive maintenance and reduce the number of potholes forming in the first place'.
When chair of the Transport Committee in 2019, the current future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood MP, oversaw a report from the committee which found: 'A front-loaded, five-year funding settlement is the only way local authorities will be able to address a deteriorating local roads network and plan ahead.'
Since taking ministerial office, Ms Greenwood has suggested that the new Government supports the idea of five-year funding cycles and made a strong suggestion that local roads could be give more financial visibility at the Spending Review.
However, Ms Reeves said she had found the state of the nation's finances were worse than she expected since coming to her new role, and she moved quickly to cancel several major road schemes as well as make spending cuts.
In the October budget she announced a one-year settlement for local highway maintenance in England for 2025-26 but the Government has still not announed Integrated Transport Block allocations for the year.
In November, Department for Transport officials made clear that councils can no longer count on the previous government’s pledge of an 'extra' £8.3bn over 11 years for local highway maintenance, although it was never made clear what baseline spend that cash would be additional to.
