London boroughs have received the smallest share, and county councils the biggest, of the £420m extra funding for roads repairs announced in the Budget, LGC analysis reveals.
While county councils are to collectively receive just over half the total funding pot (£230m) announced by chancellor Philip Hammond earlier this month, London’s 32 boroughs have been allocated just £17.2m between them.
The allocations were buried in the Department for Transport’s roads funding information pack, published on Monday.
LGC analysis of the allocations shows the north west is to receive the greatest funding for roads repairs when considered as a proportion of the length of road each area is responsible for. London is set to receive the least.
The average amount allocated to local authorities was £2.76m.
Proportion of £420m funding per mile, by region
| Region | Proportion funding per mile |
|---|---|
| North West | £2,280 |
| East of England | £2,270 |
| East Midlands | £2,270 |
| South East | £2,253 |
| North East | £2,179 |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £2,139 |
| South West | £2,138 |
| West Midlands | £2,097 |
| London | £1,926 |
Looking at individual authorities, while Tower Hamlets LBC, which received £539,000 extra funding for roads repairs, came out on top as receiving proportionately the most funding when looked at in relation to the total length of road for which it is responsible. It received £1,703 extra per mile of road it oversees, a measure on which Wandsworth LBC which received the least - £1,337 per mile of road.
On this measure of funding per mile London boroughs made up all of the bottom 10 councils.
Areas which received the most roads funding as a proportion of miles of roads they are responsible for
| Local authority | Total road length (miles) | Share of £420m from Budget | Proportion funding per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Hamlets LBC | 177 | £539,000 | £3,039 |
| Brighton & Hove City Council | 389 | £1,163,000 | £2,991 |
| Milton Keynes Council | 775 | £2,271,000 | £2,931 |
| Halton BC | 360 | £988,000 | £2,748 |
| Cheshire East Council | 1,751 | £4,632,000 | £2,645 |
| City of London Corporation | 34 | £91,000 | £2,638 |
| Reading BC | 248 | £653,000 | £2,632 |
| Bracknell Forest Council | 290 | £754,000 | £2,601 |
| Sandwell MBC | 547 | £1,422,000 | £2,598 |
| Hertfordshire CC | 3,039 | £7,892,000 | £2,597 |
County councils dominated in terms of receiving the most amount of funding in absolute terms. Devon CC received the most (£18.7m) followed by Lincolnshire (£13.7m), Norfolk (£12.6m), Kent (£12.1m) and Cumbria (£12m) CCs.
Richard Davies (Con), Lincolnshire’s executive member for highways, said: “While this extra funding is very welcome, it’s nowhere near the hundreds of millions of pounds we’d need to bring our roads up to the standard we’d like. That’s why we’ll continue to push the government for fairer funding for Lincolnshire.
“If councils here received the average funding for council areas in England, the region would benefit from £116m of extra funding for services every year – some of which could be used towards highways repairs. That would make a massive difference.”
The following five London boroughs received the least in absolute terms: City of London Corporation (£91,000), Kensington & Chelsea RBC (£230,000), Hammersmith & Fulham (£274,000), Islington (£295,000) and Hackney (£320,000) LBCs.
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