What action is the Welsh Government taking to work with local authorities to ensure that Wales’ road network is well maintained?
One of the purposes of the roads review is to obtain advice on reallocating expenditure from projects that encourage more people to drive, to help address the backlog of maintenance across Wales’ network and make it more resilient.
In 2021-22, local authorities have received £4.65 billion from the Welsh Government in core funding and non-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services in line with the needs of their communities, through the local government settlement. This is as good a Settlement as the Government can offer in the current financial circumstances and one which builds on the significant increase in the 2020-21 settlement.
We also provide other sources of funding to local authorities, through the allocation of specific grants. An additional £32.5m of specific grants was allocated in 2017/18 to local authorities to improve the condition of the road network. The Welsh Government has extended the £20m Public Highways Refurbishment Grant, which delivered £60m of capital funding over three years between 2018-19 and 2020-21, for another year.
In accepting the specific grants, local authorities agreed to provide Welsh Government with confirmation on how the grant was spent together with an updated annual Asset Management Plan. I look forward to receiving such information from all authorities in Wales in order to better understand the impact this injection of funding is having on the condition of the local road network.
We also provide annual funding to local authorities through the Active Travel Fund, Local Transport Fund, Safe Routes in Communities scheme and Road Safety Grant for active travel.