Highways Finance

The carriageway repair bill for local roads in England and Wales has reached a record high of £16.3bn – double the promised £8bn funding uplift from the Government.

Buckinghamshire Council has pledged to hold HS2 Ltd to account to secure compensation for damage to its highway network from HGVs helping build the high-speed rail line.

Councils ‘desperately need’ more highway maintenance funding to address the deteriorating condition of local roads, the AA has said after its worst September fixing ‘pothole-related’ breakdowns for five years.

The Department for Transport has admitted it does not have a timescale for the billions of pounds for road resurfacing that it announced on the back of the decision to curtail HS2, suggesting that the claim may merely be a pre-announcement of future routine funding.

Transport for London has pushed back against criticism from the influential leader of a London Borough over the allocation of central government highways funding.

National Highways has generally delivered well for road users over the past year but faces continuing challenges with its big projects, its monitor has said.

Ministers are set to announce an extra £200m for local road maintenance, representing around half of the annual cut to funding that was put in place since for each of the last four years of the current parliament.

The Government spent 31 times more maintaining motorways and major highways last year than funding councils to repair local roads, local authority leaders say as they call for more funding to fix potholes.

The AA has warned that England’s local road network ‘cannot take another round of cuts’ after official figures showed that a third of English councils' B and C roads were rated in amber or red condition in the last year.

Council leaders have warned that local authorities will struggle to maintain roads and street lights, and will face salt shortages this winter due to spiralling inflation and the price of energy.

A senior Department for Transport (DFT) official has played down the possibility that city regions will divert government cash intended for road repairs to pay for their plans to improve bus services.

The cost of the 'pothole repair backlog’ across England and Wales has jumped by nearly 25% in the last 12 months from £10.24bn to £12.64bn, in a major warning sign of the devastating impact of inflation on the highways sector.

County and rural councils will see their funding for road maintenance fall by nearly £500m by April this year, new analysis has warned.

Lincolnshire County Council has called on transport secretary Grant Shapps to return the millions cut from highways maintenance budgets last year, as the council bemoaned a £12m funding gap in its highways service.

Road maintenance funding for councils not receiving settlements through combined authorities appears to be facing a cut of around £200m over three years following the Spending Review - more if you add inflation.

Funding for local road maintenance has been cut by £400m this year, the Local Government Association has warned.

As Transport for London's lane rental scheme approaches a decade of operation, the capital's transport authority celebrated the £25m it has raised for 79 projects to improve roadworks.

A major local government insurer has called for local authority pothole funding to give greater focus to cycle paths and footways to protect cyclists and e-scooter riders.

Councils have warned that they face a £400m reduction in local road maintenance budgets this year.

North Lanarkshire Council has tendered a £5.7bn commercial place-shaping partnership contract, which would last 20 years with the option to extend for a further five.

The estimated one-time cost to get local roads in England and Wales back into a ‘reasonable, steady state’ is £10.24bn, according to this year’s ALARM survey – the popular benchmark for the upkeep of council networks.

An independent report into the procurement of highways-related services at Liverpool City Council has called for the highways service to be completely restructured after finding a culture of ‘rule avoidance’ leading to excessive costs.

The Welsh Government has announced an extra £12m for local authorities to 'fix potholes and improve roads, pavements and active travel routes' across the country.

Campaigners have criticised the chancellor’s decision to maintain the freeze in fuel duty, with the bus industry accusing him of putting ‘the prime minister’s green recovery’ at risk.

County councils have said they will have ‘no choice’ but to cancel high priority highway maintenance works next year after the Government announced capital funding allocations down £398m on current levels.

A £19m package of cycling schemes in Cornwall risks going significantly over budget and missing what is already a revised delivery date, auditors have warned.

The Department for Transport has confirmed that local authorities in England have been allocated £500m from the £2.5bn Potholes Fund next year.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed £93m for three major road upgrade schemes across the country, including schemes funded as part of the major road network (MRN) and the Local Large Majors programmes.

Jacobs has won the £162.5m Integration Partner contract for the Lower Thames Crossing project, which will see the company act 'as a catalyst for collaboration between Highways England and the three main works contracts' handling delivery.

Local authorities are being urged to apply for a share of £20m to help increase the number of on-street electric vehicle chargepoints.

Councils are issuing fines worth an average of £850,000 a year for parking offences, with one raking in more than £10m, according to new research.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has threatened to introduce a charge of £3.50 a day for drivers coming into the capital if ministers do not 'play fair' over Vehicle Excise Duty.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced councils' allocations for the £175m second tranche of the Active Travel Fund.

The chancellor is reportedly considering introducing road pricing to address a tax shortfall of up to £40bn that is expected to arise as drivers switch to electric cars.

Legal battles are closing in on companies like Uber to prevent them from classifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, as a California judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the practice.

The Welsh Government has announced nearly £17m in transport grants, with £5m of the cash to be spent on repairing damage from storms earlier this year.

The Government has published the long-awaited Road Investment Strategy for 2020 to 2025, with a budget of £27.4bn.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced more than £27bn will now be spent under the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) between 2020 and 2025, as he also pledged an extra £2.5bn for local road maintenance in the Budget.

Council leaders have warned the number of extra cars being driven on the roads would cover the entire length of Britain’s coastline if lined up next to each other.

A transport minister has warned Transport for London and the local council not to expect special treatment over its bid for cash to re-open Hammersmith Bridge.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed which councils will receive a share of the latest £93m round of Challenge Fund cash.

Shire county authorities are failing to receive a ‘fair share’ of funding for roads with London receiving three times more investment, new analysis has found.

Chris Ames spoke to the five councils with the biggest deficits on their parking accounts and found that many see parking more as a service than a revenue stream.

Cost overruns and safety issues figure prominently in a new appraisal of Norfolk County Council's A1270 Broadland Northway, which opened in 2018 and bypasses the city of Norwich.

The Department for Transport has backed calls for long-term funding for local roads and suggested this could include a cross-government proposal to Treasury to pool funding with the communities department.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has backed calls for long-term funding for local roads and suggested this could include a cross-government proposal to Treasury to pool funding with the communities department.

A system of road pricing varying by time and location would be ‘the ideal approach’ in the face of falling revenue from existing sources, public finance experts have said.

Chancellor Sajid Javid has revealed some of the schemes that will feature in the £25bn second Road Investment Strategy from 2020-2025.

The sub-national transport body for the Midlands has submitted 11 priority road improvement schemes for a share of £3.5bn government cash.

The Department for Transport has published guidance to help councils apply for a share of nearly £350m to improve local roads.

Highways England has been given a reasonably clean bill of health by its watchdog's annual report, although more progress must be made on safety, customer satisfaction and the continuing delays to delivery.

Council leaders have admitted the money they cut from road maintenance funding since 2010 could have paid for the repair of nearly eight million potholes.

Amey has agreed to pay Birmingham City Council £215m to terminate its Highways PFI contract following a high profile court case.

Updated: First Minister Mark Drakeford has abandoned plans for an M4 relief road on cost and environmental grounds, stating there is 'no prospect of the project being implemented in the foreseeable future'.

The road maintenance backlog in London has hit more than £1bn for the first time, as the capital’s boroughs concede they are presiding over a state of managed decline.

Reports suggest a final decision may be close in the ongoing disputes between Amey and Birmingham City Council over its PFI debacle.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given details of how councils are spending the extra £420m for local road maintenance announced in the Budget, including repairing a historic bridge.

Recent increases in local authority highway maintenance budgets appear to be stemming the decline of local roads, according to the publishers of the 24th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.

Key figures in the sector have backed the publishers of the ALARM survey in calling for sustained and consistent funding for the local authority road network.

Kier Group plc has announced the appointment of Andrew Davies as its chief executive from 15 April 2019.

Transport and infrastructure - focused on housing - announcements made in cautious budget placeholder.

Highways England has announced its delayed £1.4bn plans to improve the Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet route, which includes one of the East of England’s most congested junctions.

Ministers have allocated £23m to fund research and trials into technology that could among other things help stop potholes forming.

Dominic Browne looks at the key conclusions so far of the Government’s review of local government finance and how they impact highways, local transport and resilience.

Anyone reading the Government's 2017 consultation on reducing tolls on the Severn crossings would have realised that abolishing them altogether was out of the question. And yet...

Labour’s shadow roads minister has accused the Government of a record of failure on road safety in the ongoing row over the unspent £75m for improvements to local roads.

London’s boroughs have said they are not getting a fair share of road maintenance cash after they were awarded only £17m of the extra £420m for local authority roads announced during the budget.

Council directors have called for a systematic change to the ‘broken’ system of funding for local roads maintenance.

The Chancellor will announce a £30bn investment package for the country’s transport network in Monday’s Budget, including a £29bn National Roads Fund created by ringfencing Vehicle Excise Duty.

The chancellor has announced an immediate £420m cash boost for local authority highway maintenance budgets with millions more for local transport projects.

The Department for Transport has published a draft road investment strategy for 2020-25, setting a ‘deliberately ambitious’ vision for the strategic road network (SRN) in 2050.

Labour's shadow road safety minister is to write to the Government to ask what has happened to the unspent £75m from its £175m Safer Roads Fund.

A coalition of transport bodies has warned that without adequate and stable funding the maintenance backlog on local roads will pass to future generations.

The Transport Select Committee has launched a new inquiry into the funding and governance of local roads in England.

This week's Talking Transport podcast, brought to by our sister site SMART Highways, discusses two forthcoming major events for the ITS sector; one on each side of the Atlantic and neither to be missed.

With the consultation on the Department for Transport's major road plans having closed in late March and ministers now considering their next moves, Dominic Browne reports on reactions from leading professional bodies.

The new president of the Local Government Technical Advisers Group (LGTAG) began his premiership with a call for radical resilience, tapping into a restlessness in the highways sector and a desire to end the ‘we have always done it this way culture’.

Welsh councils will receive £2.5m government funding to offset costs incurred in dealing with the recent severe weather.

Exclusive: Whitehall has released just a tiny fraction of the roughly £2bn paid by employers under the Apprenticeship Levy launched last April to boost jobs and skills, Transport Network can reveal.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced almost £100m extra cash for councils to help repair roads badly affected by recent cold weather.

Manchester City Council could be forced to repay thousands of bus lanes fines after an internal review discovered some charges were issued too late to be legally valid.

Contractors have called for a step change in funding for local roads after the industry’s benchmark survey found that more than 24,000 miles of road will need to be repaired in the next year.

The chancellor will make his Spring Statement at lunchtime on Tuesday and is predicted to offer a more optimistic view of the state of the economy and the public finances than in the Autumn Budget.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report into the financial sustainability of England’s local authorities has revealed that around 30 county and unitary councils are now facing such severe financial pressures that they will have no reserves left by 2022 at current spending rates.

Transport for London’s (TfL) plans to cut back on maintenance and renewals on its road network could leave it open to legal challenge, an expert in local authority law has warned.

Crisis-hit Northamptonshire CC has been told to rip up its 2018/19 budget, which would have made drastic cuts to highways and transport spending, after auditors warned it could be illegal.

Transport for London has announced a two-year moratorium on ‘non-essential road improvements’ in the face of central Government funding cuts.

Spending on road maintenance by Scottish local authorities has fallen by nearly 20% in real terms since the beginning of the decade, but the condition of local roads has improved and spending increased slightly in the last year.

MPs have described the former bosses of failed infrastructure and outsourcing giant Carillion as ‘delusional characters’ who ‘built a giant company on sand’.

Carillion has been accused of ducking its responsibilities on its pension fund for close to a decade, as the shortfall skyrocketed but bonuses and shareholder dividends were still paid out.

A proposed £180m “Metro Central” transport interchange in Cardiff requires urgent coordination with land-use planning, according to a leading Welsh academic.

Scotland's roads could become more dangerous after further cuts to councils' revenue funding, Scottish transport chiefs have warned.

A leading industry body has warned of worse roads and more potholes after council leaders claimed that by 2020 almost 60p in every pound of council tax revenue could be spent on social care.

Councils must think innovatively about how to secure political buy-in to raise the necessary funds to deliver network renewal programmes, argues Peter Hyde, highways services director at Tarmac.

Highways England has confirmed that it will spend £250,000 on a study into a possible scheme that could upgrade a section of the A27 in Sussex to dual carriageway, despite progressing a £75m upgrade to the route.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed that the Government has agreed to Highways England’s plans to re-profile the current Road Investment Strategy (RIS), with some schemes brought forward, some delayed and six schemes shelved.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, gives his thoughts on the upcoming Autumn Budget and what it might mean for roads

The North’s sub-national transport body has called the chancellor’s announcement of funding to 'future-proof' the region’s railways a significant step forward to full Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Tolls for drivers using the Severn Crossings will be cut from January ahead of the complete abolition of charges at the end of next year.

A leading industry figure has warned that local authority roads will go ‘from bad to worse’ after official statistics revealed that councils’ spending on transport and highways will fall by £162m (3.7%) in the current financial year.

New evidence proves the long-term cost effectiveness of high friction surfacing (HFS), according to key industry groups.

A recent graduate has won the £250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize 2017 with a proposal for motoring taxes to be replaced with a single charge based on distance travelled and environmental impacts.

A independent economic consultancy has set out a blueprint to abolish traffic jams through road charging and putting a national roads authority in charge of the whole system.

A £77m loss from its highways business saw infrastructure giant Amey post a pre-tax loss of nearly £44m for the last year.

The Government has said sub-national transport bodies (STBs) will play a key role in the regional management of its proposed major road network (MRN), but admitted it will need to consult on arrangements where no STB exists.

Exclusive: A major survey of highways professionals, some at the very top of the industry, has revealed almost unanimous support for a five-year investment strategy for the local road network and strong support for fewer highways authorities.

Key figures in the sector have backed the Government’s new Transport Investment Strategy but called for fair funding and rapid action to make the plan work.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced a Transport Investment Strategy that proposes the creation of a major road network, with councils given a share of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

Highways England has awarded the last of three asset delivery contracts in the South West, worth up to £290m.

The RAC Foundation has called for the winners of Thursday’s election to make the ring-fencing of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) a binding statutory scheme, as part of plans to support 'safe and sustainable' motoring.

Active travel charity Sustrans Scotland has awarded more than £15m in match-funded Scottish Government cash for the creation of walking and cycling infrastructure in the country over the next year.

The Conservatives have pledged to create sovereign wealth funds to invest in infrastructure and a passenger ombudsman to ‘stand up’ for rail users, while suggesting that they could require rail company employees to meet minimum service levels during strikes.

Nottingham-based civil and electrical engineering firm McCann has upgraded the lighting on a 19km stretch of the M62 to LED.

A Welsh Government minister has said he will encourage local authorities to use a new four-year capital settlement to improve highway maintenance methods.

Campaigners have called on Highways England to use a reported £180m windfall to offset the environmental impact of existing roads.

Fresh research has highlighted the debilitating cost of bidding for work in the construction sector, suggesting the annual total hits almost £3bn a year, in an industry where profit margins are often between 1-3%.

The RAC has published a Motoring Manifesto in the run up to the general election calling on the next government to tackle ‘unfair’ parking practices and implement an air quality plan that deals with buses, taxis and vans first.

Five finalists have been unveiled for the second largest economics prize in the world – the £250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize 2017, which this year focuses on highways.

The time needed to clear the repair backlog on local authority roads in England and Wales has fallen from 14 years to 12 years, with councils spending more money on highways structural maintenance.

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan gave Transport Network an interview at Traffex this week and said he was very impressed with the event and confident about his company’s capital funding position.

Kier has announced 200 new colleagues have been brought into the business following the start of its latest contract with Highways England and a further 50 new jobs will be created.

Bidding has opened for a share of a £490m fund to help councils tackle congestion and provide upgrades to local roads.

The next Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) is ‘the biggest game in town’, with up to £4bn annual capital spending on the strategic road network, Highways England's chief executive has said.

English local highways authorities have made major improvements in the Department for Transport’s self-assessment process this year, with 39 securing the top Band 3 status, regardless of any devolution deal, compared to just two in the last round.

Council and industry leaders have called for a long-term funding solution to ‘the crisis in local highway maintenance’, following the publication the latest ALARM survey, which found an increase in the cost of clearing the repairs backlog.

A director of the Road Surface Treatment Association (RSTA) has asked the industry to sign the organisation’s petition for a portion of fuel duty to be diverted into road maintenance after a jump in the cost of clearing the repairs backlog.

The Government and Highways England urgently need to agree a more realistic delivery plan for the Road Investment Strategy (RIS), the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

Only four councils remain in the lowest band after the second round of the Incentive Element self assessment, a Department for Transport (DfT) official has revealed.

FM Conway has been awarded two highways services contracts by the London Borough of Newham, worth up to £40m together.

London's congestion charge has reduced traffic accidents by a third inside its zone and even resulted in ‘significant decreases’ in accidents in adjacent areas despite average speeds more than doubling, a new report has found.

Highways England has announced that 18 companies have won a place on a £434m contractual framework, covering work in Cumbria, North Lancashire, and the North East.

Luton Borough Council has awarded VolkerHighways a highway maintenance, major projects and professional services contract that could be worth £200m over 15 years.

National Pothole Day arrived on Monday, with reports of increased damage to vehicles and warnings of worse to come, sparking new calls for preventative action – and cash.

Ministers have announced over £1.2bn of funding for English local authority roads in 2017/18, including individual councils’ share of the pothole fund, £185m of new funding announced in the Autumn Statement and the Local Highways Maintenance Funding Needs Element.

Council leaders have called for an extra £1bn annually for local roads maintenance, warning that 2017 could be a ‘tipping point year for potholes’.

Manchester City Council has announced plans to boost its highways capital spending to £135m between 2017/18 and 2021/22, including work on bridges, cycle paths and bus priority lanes.

The Scottish Government has announced an extra £167m for the country’s trunk road network next year and promised ‘a vastly improved motorway network fit for the 21st century’.

Highways England awards four contracts worth over £300m for work in Cumbria, North Lancashire, and the North East.

Dr Lee Chapman is a fine example of an academic that is putting applied science to good use in the industry.

The Government does not intend to legislate to create the National Roads Fund from 2020, Transport Network understands, in what some say is a watering down of the plans.

A new Oxford to Cambridge Expressway could cost up to £3.5bn, it has emerged.

The next round of the self-assessment process for local highways maintenance capital funding could start ‘very shortly’, transport minister Andrew Jones has revealed.

The transport secretary has announced further details of £1.3bn of additional funding for roads, including a £925m pot highways authorities can bid for.

Spending by English local authorities on highways and transport fell by 4.6% in 2015/16, new Government statistics have confirmed.

Scotland faces sub-standard road conditions and more outsourcing of frontline services over the next five years due to budgetary pressures, one of the most senior figures in the nation’s local transport sector has warned.

A new trial of driverless vehicles will take place in London this month, while the public will be asked to give their views via an online sentiment mapping tool.

With the chancellor’s Autumn Statement due next month, a leading industry figure has warned of the danger of ‘a local road network that is not fit for purpose’.

Transport Scotland has said that an extra £15m funding will see repairs carried out at more than 50 locations on the country’s trunk roads and bridges during this financial year.

A new survey has found that while 76% of the public agree investment in infrastructure is vital to economic growth, fewer than half think the UK is getting it right.

Chief executive of Next, Lord Wolfson, has launched a competition with a £250,000 prize for the best idea for funding improvements to the road network.

Any boost in transport spending should focus on fixing existing transport and on local schemes, ahead of big, ‘totemic’ projects, campaigners have said.

A major new piece of research on the changing market dynamics governing highways contracts considered what influences buyer choice. Alison Bond and Professor Merlin Stone report on the findings.

The Welsh Government has so far spent more than £300,000 maintaining a set of temporary traffic lights for over four years, it has emerged.

Scottish Borders Council is conducting a review of its highways maintenance following this month’s Audit Scotland report, which showed the conditions of its roads to have deteriorated faster than any authority in the country.

The Government should bolster guidance and standards in the local highways sector to help address a major loss of expertise since the start of austerity, a key industry body has warned.

Copeland Borough Council has backed plans for a new £10bn nuclear power station in West Cumbria, but joined the county council in calling for investment in infrastructure in return.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently formulating options on a possible expansion of highways lane rental schemes, following successful results from London and Kent.

MPs have agreed plans to give the Sheffield city region combined authority an elected mayor, but areas outside South Yorkshire, such as Chesterfield, are excluded for now.

Amey has put aside an exceptional charge of £55m relating to the possible ‘unfavourable resolution’ of its long-running dispute with Birmingham City Council, the company’s annual report states.

In advance of our groundbreaking conference in Manchester on 23-24 September, bringing together the national and local sides of the highways network for the first time, Transport Network takes a look at some of the major schemes and collaborative working happening around the country.

Derbyshire CC has said the public are being ‘hoodwinked’ over a consultation on plans to put a Sheffield mayor in charge of transport and other services in Chesterfield, in the latest twist in a long-running tug-of-war.

Hertfordshire CC has said that its new approach to fixing potholes and other faults on roadways and footpaths has led to better repairs and saved hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Proposed new tunnels for the capital will not cause a net increase in traffic and could be paid for with the ring-fencing of stamp duty or London-wide road charging, Transport for London (TfL) has suggested.

Isle of Anglesey CC is close to reaching agreement with the developer of the planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station over funding for road improvements, including construction of four bypasses.

The Government has admitted it needs to improve its understanding of the capital resourcing issues facing English councils, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.

UKIP has dropped its opposition to the ‘black route’ M4 relief road in South Wales, boosting the controversial scheme’s chances of going ahead.

Council directors have raised ‘serious concerns’ over any potential capital revenue division to the cash devolved to local government under chancellor George Osborne’s business rates plan.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) said it will drive forward more than £4bn of transport infrastructure over the coming decade, including more tram extensions, new suburban rail lines, cycle routes and better motorways.

The leader of Hampshire CC has warned of the danger of splitting the county’s highways and transport functions in half under proposals – which Hampshire rejects – for two separate combined authorities in the county.

The case for building a vast lorry park costing £250m as an alternative to parking lorries on the M20 in Kent through Operation Stack, has not yet been made, according to MPs.

Senior figures have reacted to the news that ongoing talks regarding the 100% retention of business rates, could spell the end for highways self-assessment alongside wider highways grant reforms.

Hampshire County Council has cut ‘non-safety related traffic management schemes’ and invited smaller authorities to fund such projects themselves.

The Local Government Technical Advisers Group's (TAG) annual president’s conference saw Department for Transport (DfT) heavy hitters welcome the new president Rob Gillespie into his role.

A new vehicle to replace overhead signs, including on motorway gantries, could reduce the duration of roadworks and save up to £4m a year, according to Highways England.

Scores of councils in the south of England are set to benefit from three new contractual frameworks for civil engineering, highways and transportation infrastructure works, worth over £500m.

Strategic asset management solutions provider, Yotta, gives some tips on how to approach the DfT's highways self-assessment process.

Durham County Council has backed plans to create a combined authority for the North East as long as several conditions are met.

Dom Browne speaks to David Quarmby and Phil Carey, the highways experts who are helping to map out a blueprint for a Major Road Network.

Nottinghamshire County Council and Cornwall Council have announced plans to launch a new public sector company to provide highways and fleet management services in Nottinghamshire.

Highways England has set out plans to save £250m by 2020 through Lean techniques – more than double its Lean savings in the previous five years.

The Government-commissioned report that recommended a new runway at Heathrow significantly underestimated the costs of improving surface transport access, which could exceed £18bn, according to Transport for London (TfL).

New road schemes still dominate Local Enterprise Partnerships' (LEPs) spending plans for the coming year, campaigners have said.

A free highways asset management tool aimed at the ‘pavement level’, to give engineers detailed options on the wide variety of asphalt and the treatment solutions, is now available.

Transport minister Andrew Jones has vowed to look into complaints from the highways sector about a lack of work coming through the Highways England pipeline, it has emerged.

Buckinghamshire CC is consulting residents during a ‘root and branch’ review of its transport services, as it looks to save £2.3m.

Local authorities, utility companies and bill payers could all face extra costs under a government plan to penalise road works that aren’t cleared before the weekend, officials have conceded.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed the results of the highways maintenance self-assessment process for English councils and the resulting Incentive Fund allocations.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed £550,000 of extra funding for the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) – a sector-led body that has been widely hailed as driving improvements in the sector.

The Government has revealed how £50m will be allocated to individual English councils to fix potholes next year but immediately faced strong criticism for its 'short-term approach'.

Councils in Scotland made a £36.1m surplus on parking activities in 2014/15, according to the RAC Foundation, up 6% on the previous year.

The 21st Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey has found councils successfully working 'smarter with less money', with the overall cost of the repair backlog across England and Wales falling to £11.8bn from £12.2bn last year.

Welsh councils will press the new devolved government for a second highways borrowing initiative after May’s elections, amid fears that funding shortages could erode the first initiative’s achievements.

A majority of the public are open to various forms of road user charging, a transport think tank has claimed.

Ministers have officially started the development of the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS), dictating the spending and schemes on England’s motorway network from 2020-2025.

The Treasury outlined regional allocations from the £250m Pothole Action Fund for 2016-2017 in the Budget this week.

A major survey of UK drivers has found 39% suffered pothole damage over the past two years, prompting calls for George Osborne to address roads funding in the Budget.

Eleven councils in the east of England have launched a framework for delivering highway maintenance and improvement schemes that could be worth up to £750m over four years.

Financial sweeteners focused on county councils have prompted some authorities to reverse planned cuts to transport spending.

Local highways authorities are set to improve upon their self-assessment performance from last year's 'dry run' when there were 'hardly any' in the top band, Transport Network understands.

Lincolnshire County Council has scrapped plans to cut bus funding and reduce winter gritting services, after receiving extra funding from the Government.

Highways England is to hold a briefing day for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands looking to provide technical services under its new asset-led delivery model.

Balfour Beatty has won a £245m highways maintenance contract covering three major councils in the Midlands - Coventry City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council.

Road pricing is 'an idea whose time has come', former transport minister, Steven Norris told transport industry technology group ITS(UK) this week.

Transport Network caught up with George Lee, head of the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA), to chat about dangers and opportunities, standards and skills, and the threat of driverless cars.

The Welsh Government is seeking a 20% cost saving in trunk road maintenance, which is carried out by local authorities on its behalf.

Rural unitary authorities in Wales want a revised funding formula after statistics revealed most of them are in the bottom half of the road condition league table.

East Sussex County Council has named civil engineering and construction specialists Costain CH2M as its preferred bidder on a £300m highways contract.

'Efficient road pricing offers the single best way to tackle road congestion', says the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Highways England has announced a major shake-up of its delivery arrangements with a raft of key responsibilities, worth scores of millions to the private market, being brought back in-house.

The Isle of Wight Council is in a contractual dispute with its PFI highways service provider, Island Roads, over what is reported to be a ‘significant’ amount of money.

Highways England (HE) is under pressure to deny or confirm reports of a £100m-plus overspend in its resource budget, after suppliers raised concerns that some schemes in its capital spending programme are being delayed as a result.

A new study into the future of English highways could break down the barriers between the national and local networks, with its authors suggesting the new concept of a ‘major road network’ (MRN) is already gaining traction.

Leaders in the West Midlands have signed a provisional £1bn devolution deal with government that brings a directly elected mayor to the region from 2017, responsible for a raft of new transport powers.

Local authorities are left with a ‘bewildering’ local roads funding system that stymies ‘the coherent and efficient operation of the road system as a whole’ a new report has argued.

Transport minister Andrew Jones has sought to reassure private sector suppliers after rumours suggested Highways England's delivery programme is already suffering from delays and overspending.

Merseyside leaders have signed a devolution deal with government worth some £900m over 30 years that will see a directly elected mayor take power in 2017.

Transport minister Andrew Jones talked to ADEPT directors about his plans for buses, highways, lobbying for cash and Stonehenge.

Four government departments including the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have provisionally agreed to cut spending by up to 30% over the next four years.

Council directors’ body ADEPT has warned local services will be ‘severely compromised’ as a result of the latest round of heavy government cuts.

Highways maintenance specifications should be changed in response to growing shortages of materials and cash, public sector and industry figures have suggested.

Scottish transport minister Derek Mackay has criticised a road funding system proposed by George Osborne for England, stating the chancellor's plan is 'not a good way to run public finances'.

Highways England has hit back at suggestions the management of the motorway network is about to be handed to private firms, labelling the reports ‘completely untrue’.

Road Expo Scotland this week is set for a record year with registrations topping the 1,500 mark for the first time ever.

Almost three quarters (72%) of businesses are ‘open to the idea of road charging’ and 70% of infrastructure firms are prepared to pay higher fees for quicker planning decisions, a major new survey from the CBI has revealed.

A free, online asset management training toolkit has been launched by the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP), providing highways teams with a consistent source of long-term planning skills.

A £40-£50m contract for dualling work on the A96 in Scotland has been published, covering around 29 miles of the western section of the highway east of Auldearn to east of Fochabers.

A highways design services contract estimated to be worth between £25m and £50m by Highways England is up for grabs in the East Midlands.

Local highways and transport services in England saw a second year of solid growth in capital expenditure, although councils’ debt levels are also on the rise.

The Sheffield City Region has agreed a devolution deal with government that will bring major transport powers and potentially some £900m to the area in exchange for an elected mayor.

Latest feedback on the dry run self-assessment process for the DfT's highways capital maintenance fund and more news from HMEP's continuing effort to improve the sector.

Further cross-boundary collaborative working between Highways England and local highway authorities is inevitable and essential, senior figures from the sector have said.

The Norwich Northern Distributor Road is one of the first major projects to have fallen victim to the surge of inflationary pressure hitting the highways and construction sectors, setting what could be a dangerous precedent for public spending.

Councils have raised concerns that the Welsh Government's review of trunk road management will result in centralisation which would not necessarily improve efficiency.

Transformation is taking place in the highways sector and authorities must adapt to reap the rewards, Peter Molyneux, head of highways at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has warned.

Two major highways studies have been launched by the Department for Transport (DfT), looking at local use of traffic management technology and potential improvements on the A1.

WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff and Arup have been appointed to carry out two studies worth a combined £1.5m into improving road and transport connections in the North.

Local government compliance with the pioneering Active Travel (Wales) Act is 'heavily dependent on funding' due to the Act's high route maintenance standards, a council has warned.

A £292m package of work on Highways England’s A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement project has been awarded to a Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture.

Sweeping financial reforms are needed to tackle the widespread level of failing local highways assets, six of the largest city regions have warned.

Highways England has invited local partners to submit bids for its £100m growth and housing cash pot, used to match-fund infrastructure to enable new developments.

Work has started on the first leg of the largest transport project in Scotland’s history – the £3bn A9 Perth to Inverness dualling programme.

Scotland’s transport minister Derek Mackay has revealed he is looking forward to addressing his first Road Expo this November, in what is set to be a record year for the devolved nation's largest traffic management and road maintenance event.

David Brewer, executive director of delivery and development at Highways England, talks to Adrian Tatum about the future of the strategic network.

The RAC has called for reforms to councils' legal responsibilities on local roads after a major survey suggests it is a top priority for transport spending.

Norfolk CC has approved a £9.9m contribution towards construction of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR) in a bid to cover a £30m budget shortfall.

In an exclusive interview with Transport Network, interim mayor of Greater Manchester Tony Lloyd talks about highways alliances, bus franchising and what London can learn from Manchester.

Three sets of major collaborative procurement schemes have been developed in highways departments across the country, with help from the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP), Transport Network can reveal.

Cornwall Council is looking to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Highways England, setting out a formalised map for future joint working.

Comprehensive guidance on how to manage highways legal claims, such as compensation from pothole-related incidents, has been released by an insurance special interest group.

"Capital” and “revenue” are terms we in local government do not give a second thought to when discussing expenditure on the highways we manage.

Capita has scooped a 15-month £4m contract with Highways England to replace its asset management system for roadside technology maintenance teams.

Transport Scotland is investigating allegations from whistleblowers that Bear Scotland has ripped off the taxpayer to the tune of millions by carrying out unnecessary highways works.

Surveyor magazine’s groundbreaking event this September Highways Management: Smarter roads for the future has been approved for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation.

A 15-year contract worth more than £300m is up for grabs on the strategic road network in the East Midlands, Highways England has announced.

Transport Network caught up with Tarmac Contracting's managing director, Paul Fleetham, to talk about the state of the road network and gearing up for the challenges of the future.

Researchers have called for ‘urgent’ work to develop new methods of evaluating infrastructure projects, after questions have been raised about the impact of transport and highways spending on economic growth.

A new suite of standardised highways procurement documents has been released featuring innovations that councils ‘cannot afford to ignore’ according to one of its keys architects.

A senior highways adviser to the Department for Transport has warned there would be ‘uproar’ if ministers changed capital funding levels for local roads over this parliament as result of spending cuts.

Transport Network has seen a draft copy of the new code of practice covering all aspects of highways engineering and maintenance.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has been asked to prepare for further budget cuts of up to 40% by 2020, in a move that could add to the mounting pressure on highways and transport revenues budgets.

Highways England has appointed six joint-venture companies to design and build around £1.5bn worth of smart motorway projects.

Highways England is building up teams of ‘the best of the best’ in the sector, using staff from different private contractors and designers as well as in-house personnel to deliver major schemes, Transport Network can reveal.

The delayed electronic tolling option for the Humber Bridge, costing £5m, will finally become available in early November 2015 bosses have announced.

Local authority highways and transport budgets in England have plummeted by more than a third since 2009-10, finance bosses have revealed.

New funding sources could be unlocked for transport if investment was linked to the impacts of improved road safety, a report claims.

Department for Transport (DfT) director John Dowie has given a frank appraisal of the disparity between local and national roads funding and said Whitehall accepted there was a 'fundamental problem looming' in local revenue levels.

Key figures in the highways sector have lined up to welcome the chancellor's commitment to create a dedicated Roads Fund but expressed anger it appears to entrench the imbalance between local and national spending.

The Government committed to a raft of regional transport projects in the Budget this week, including a further round of the New Stations Fund with up to £20m for new projects.

The north west is set to benefit from nearly 80 miles of extra smart motorway over the next five years as part of a £1.5bn Highways England investment plan.

Highways officers have urged the Welsh Government to replicate a recent three-year borrowing initiative, to arrest the slide back into short-term reactive maintenance.

Local government highways and transport departments in England showed the largest increase in capital expenditure of any local service sector in 2014-15 with spending up £1.6bn (25%) to reach £8.26bn overall, government figures have revealed.

Highways England has appointed an airports expert and former Heathrow boss as its new chief executive, following the departure of the popular Graham Dalton.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a ‘dry run’ self-assessment process for local highways authorities to see where they stand on the forthcoming incentive element to local roads funding.

The first contract awards on the £1.5bn A14 improvement in East Anglia have been announced, however the process has led Highways England to signal principal contractors must rethink their approach to win work on major projects.

Senior local government figures in Conservative heartlands have bemoaned the lack of a proper funding mechanism to support strategic infrastructure for new developments.

A leading road safety charity has expressed concerns over major delays to a speed reduction programme in Flintshire CC, which is at least six months late already with the vast majority of interventions still to be delivered.

Highways England has abandoned plans to bring in a new Asset Support Contract (ASC) for the East Midlands, and intends to move forward with a set up that will bring control of maintenance arrangements in-house.

The 26 councils in the Key Cities group should be handed ‘fully devolved local transport funds' and control over bus and local rail regulation a leading think tank has suggested.

Highways England has thrown its weight behind a groundbreaking event this autumn bringing together strategic roads chiefs, council directors, contractors and the industry’s leading trade bodies to transform the way the local and national elements work in unison.

Chief executive of Mouchel, Grant Rumbles, has revealed his firm will be seeking to expand its presence in the local authority highways market following Kier agreeing to buy the company in a £265m cash deal.

Chief executive of Highways England, Graham Dalton, told Traffex delegates that local authorities would play a key role in medium and long-term planning on the strategic roads network.

Kier has agreed to buy Mouchel for £265m, creating a highways infrastructure superpower and expanding the number of services the combined firm can offer to local authorities.

Councils could save around 80% on their reactive highways maintenance budgets by investing in modern repair systems for cracks, joints and potholes, one company has claimed.

Sector-wide collaboration between clients, contractors and trade bodies holds the key to maximising asset management potential in the highways sector, an industry insider has claimed.

A new highways website dubbed the ‘Google of training’ is due to be unveiled at Traffex this year by the Road Safety Markings Association.

Highways England will be at Traffex 2015 to speak directly to the UK traffic and transport industry for the first time since its launch on 1 April.

The Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and in recognition of its long-standing support of Traffex will be offering visitors free membership for the remainder of 2015.

Council directors in Wales have praised the success of the Government's three-year Local Government Borrowing Initiative for highways maintenance.

Highways England plans to develop a ‘multi-layered’ relationship with local authorities centred on individual strategic memorandums of understanding (MOU) with key councils or groups of councils, Transport Network can reveal.

Industry figures have called for a radical re-think of highways maintenance funding and techniques after the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey this year showed the backlog for local roads maintenance has increased once again.

Bill Taylor, managing director at Ringway, is clear on where progress must be made in the transport sector.

Chief executive of Highways England, Graham Dalton, has said the new strategic highways company has ‘no plans’ to operate a commercial enterprise selling expertise or knowledge.

The three main political parties have agreed that traffic congestion can be tackled by using traffic and freight management technology, without resorting to controversial systems of road user charging.

The councils awarded a share of the £275m local highways challenge fund have been revealed today, with some authorities winning double awards and scooping tens of millions of pounds.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) new local roads funding regime is underway, Transport Network looks at the views and reactions of experts in the sector.

Transport technology group ITS (UK) is calling for the Department for Transport (DfT) to aim for total payment interoperability when implementing free flow tolling technology on planned strategic river crossings.

Local government transport leaders were at loggerheads with the Department for Transport (DfT) this week over the success of devolution and funding pots, with pressure mounting for the abolition of ‘infernal’ cash competitions.

A £350,000 Government investment will fund assessment of a potential new bypass for the north of England, ministers have confirmed today.

An ongoing dispute between the UK’s largest local authority and its highways contractor over a £2.7bn roads deal has taken a turn for the worse, amid claims and counterclaims over the state of the network.

Transport leaders were notably vociferous at this week’s Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) National Conference, unafraid to take the Coalition to task over funding, devolution, leadership and maintenance.

Having the right approach to asset management is now even more vital says HMEP advocate Steve Kent.

Highways authorities across England have maintained the condition of key local road assets over the last six years despite severe cuts to budgets, although it has come at a cost to unclassified roads government figures suggest.

In the latest of a series of head-to-heads, highways engineer Chris Summers makes the case against road user charging.

Could the £15bn government investment to expand England’s trunk road network result in greater urban congestion? Thomas Bridge reports.

The way England's strategic road network is managed will change from April this year after the Infrastructure Act became law last week, paving the way for the Highways Agency to become Highways England.

Tolls will be frozen on the Mersey tunnel next year after a decision taken by the Combined Authority.

Plans for a potential rise in Mersey Tunnel toll prices are expected to be opposed by Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson.

The Highways Agency is re-launching the tendering process for five major regional contracts thought to be worth more than £1.5bn, and will be reviewing the process to allow 'more ownership of investment decisions' in future.

This month ADEPT’s transport board together with senior figures from associated areas of central and local government debated the links between public health and transport and how directors could become more involved in this cross-cutting agenda.

Councils paid out £3.2m in compensation to motorists for pothole damage caused to vehicles last year, research reveals.

Top officials at the Highways Agency plan to enter into talks with local authorities to develop a new system for evaluating roads investment in relation to wider goals in economic growth, Transport Network can reveal.

The Highways Agency has suspended the tender process for its asset support contracts in areas 4 and 12 following concerns over the spending on bids.

The Government’s National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) has revealed roads cash allocations for the regions together with controversial reforms to the local highways authority capital maintenance funding.

Paul Fleetham managing director of Lafarge Tarmac Contracting makes the case for joined up roads investment.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) is pressing for the Government to provide another highways borrowing initiative, amid fears of a funding ‘double whammy’ in April.

Chancellor George Osborne announced transport tax giveaways in his Autumn Statement today including continuing the freeze in fuel duty.

The entire A303 will be dualled and a road tunnel at least 1.8 miles long will be built under Stonehenge as part of a £15bn roads investment plan.

Leading transport experts have taken a swipe at the Government’s road investment strategy suggesting it could do more harm than good on congestion.

The Government’s £15bn for the strategic road network appears to have shifted the political middle ground with Labour’s new shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher suggesting his party would be more pro-motorist with a localist slant.

This weekend saw the launch of the new Dart Charge payment system on the Dartford Crossing, removing the need for drivers to stop at a barrier.

Emergency funding offered to councils in the wake of flooding could soon be directed away from long-term infrastructure repairs.

Local government transport, highways and infrastructure services have suffered some of the most extensive cuts over this parliament according to a new report from national auditors, which paints a grim picture of councils’ future financial stability.

Underperforming local authorities could lose millions in highways funding over the next parliament as the Department for Transport (DfT) pushes ahead with a radical overhaul of how capital cash is allocated.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is undertaking a review of the Codes of Practice on behalf of the UK Roads Liaison Group (UKRLG), covering Well-maintained Highways, Management of Highway Structures and Well-lit Highways.

A local government transport chief has suggested dedicated highways maintenance tsars could help underperforming councils struggling with the weight of the UK’s £12bn local roads maintenance backlog.

On 10pm on Saturday 29 November cash payments end on the Dartford Tunnel bringing to a close the payment system that has operated since 1963.

Council directors have called for an ‘urgent review’ of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and the ‘cumbersome, restrictive and inappropriate‘ transport assessment methodology used in their strategic economic plans.

Business leaders in Birmingham have warned against including a workplace parking levy in the additional ring-fenced business taxation needed to implement the city's £4bn transport plan - announced last week by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP.

Prime minister David Cameron has reasserted his commitment to transport infrastructure with a speech today highlighting next parliament’s planned roads spending.

A pair of damning polls has found businesses fear the quality of UK infrastructure is worsening while progress on improvement is being hampered by political uncertainty.

Devon CC has announced a plan to use volunteers to fix potholes and trim hedges as it seeks to cut back on highways spending.

Dr Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, looks at the state of play for local road finance.

A comment piece on The challenges and opportunities of localism: introducing evidence to enhance public decision-making on local traffic management schemes.

Campaigners have called for a 3p fuel duty cut in the Autumn Statement in December, warning MPs in marginal seats failure to support the policy could damage their re-election chances.

One year since Derby City Council took its highways maintenance service in-house, Thomas Bridge hears how the new approach is reforming work from the ground up.

Capacity issues in local government transport supply chains could lead to ‘inflationary pressures’ on pricing, senior council directors have warned.

Council chiefs have labelled the current systems for transport funding and decision-making ‘wasteful and ineffective’ and called for five-year funding horizons and the removal of ringfencing.

Island Roads - a PFI partnership between the Isle of Wight Council and other contractors including VINCI - has launched a new charitable foundation to support local projects.

There are a number of ways to tackle potholes. In the first of a new series Transport Network finds out more about the spray injection patching approach.

Around a third of Manchester’s roads are set to become 20mph zones from Monday next week, with 111 miles across 1,100 streets covered by the permanent restrictions.

The Government has raked in more than £17m in the past four months from foreign truck drivers after closing a double standard in international road haulage charges.

One in three Londoners support raising the congestion charge during peak hours making it the most popular option to tackle London's rising traffic problems, according to a new poll.

Council chiefs have called on the Government to clamp down on no-win no-fee compensation claims that they suggest are draining local finances in highways departments among others.

Steve Kent, immediate past president of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) lays out the case for an approach to funding for local highways and how ADEPT plans to be at the heart of new thinking.

On the face of it Christopher Chope MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance (APPG), might almost be the central government pantomime villain to local highways authorities’ stepchild. Dominic Browne finds out if there is more to his brand of tough love.

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) – established to develop and spread best practice throughout the highways sector - has received a further £500,000 from the Government.

Highways and transport suffers one of the deepest council cuts this year, as spending falls across England.

A review of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report Maintaining Strategic Infrastructure: roads

Derby CC is planning a £23m highways investment that could see improvements to hundreds of miles of roads in the county.

Scottish business leaders and politicians have called on their government to ringfence money for repairing potholes in local roads.

A major state of the nation motoring report has warned of growing public dissatisfaction with the state of the UK’s roads, local parking services, the costs of motoring and the quality of public transport alternatives to driving.

Council directors have backed recommendations from a government review into national transport resilience, which calls for a shake-up of local highways funding arrangements.

A Department for Transport (DfT) strategic roads chief has conceded the funding system for highways authorities is not 'optimum' and encouraged councils to be flexible in their approach to different finance streams to help utilise the money they receive.

A major review of England's transport resilience commissioned by the Government in the wake of this winter’s storms has called for a shake-up of highways funding.

Car sharing schemes could ‘revolutionise’ transport Baroness Kramer said today, although industry insiders suggest a range of policy initiatives are needed to help the concept move past the ‘early adopters stage’.

Council chiefs have unveiled plans to tackle some of the country's most entrenched problems – including the national pothole crisis.

Reinvestment of fuel duty into road maintenance would allow local highways authorities to repair the ‘crumbling’ road network within a decade, council chiefs have claimed.

There is more than one way to improve the condition of your assets but the process really starts with making the best use of data on road conditions.

Plans to create the world’s largest cement maker have taken a step forward with Anglo American plc announcing plans to sell its 50% stake in asphalt giant Lafarge Tarmac to cement maker Lafarge for £885m.

Council chiefs have slammed the Government over the difficulties local authorities have to surmount as they bid for local infrastructure and growth cash, claiming that ‘the public purse is having to spend tens of millions on bidding for its own money’.

Cost-savings from councils turning off streetlights are being paid for with lives, the president of the AA has suggested.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced local authority funding allocations from its £168m dedicated Pothole Repair Fund, with all 148 authorities that applied for the cash winning a share.

Over the past few years, national and local governments have seen major changes in the way they are approaching the ownership of their physical assets. One of the key changes has been the adoption of concepts that are now described as 'asset management'.

Birmingham City Council has replaced bus lane enforcement signage across the city after a series of blunders resulted in the council announcing a review of around 18,000 motoring fines.

The Midlands Highways Alliance (MHA) has revealed the contractors appointed for its £261m transport infrastructure framework.

To the highway engineer, slurry surfacing offers a quick, efficient and cost effective way of maintaining skid resistance and protecting roads.

Drivers found guilty of motorway speeding could soon face fines of up to £10,000 under new government plans to deter offending.

Surrey CC has hailed the success of a major streetlight upgrade programme, which in the four years since its launch has replaced 88,000 lights and saved enough energy to power around 2,100 typical homes for a year.

An overwhelming majority of Scottish residents would prefer transport ministers to focus on repairing and maintaining the existing road network rather than spending more money on new roads, according to a survey released today.

Highways Agency reforms will not be enough to address the problem of unpredictable funding for roads maintenance, government auditors have warned.

The UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has teamed up with international engineering consultants, Fugro, to provide asset management expertise for highways clients worldwide.

A senior Labour Party figure has criticised the Coalition Government’s highways policy as part of a wider speech outlining his party’s commitment to deficit reduction through a ‘strategic long-term approach’.

Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey headlines must not detract from fundamental problems says Dr Howard Robinson, chief executive, Road Surface Treatments Assocation (RSTA).

Welsh transport minister Edwina Hart has announced a £15.4m boost for 41 projects to improve public transport, walking and cycling facilities and traffic flows across the devolved nation.

Milton Keynes Council together with infrastructure company Ringway have officially launched a highways network maintenance and services contract in the unitary, worth up to £200m.

Roadwork crews are toiling away on as many as 25,000 unfinished projects across British highways according to fresh research.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin today officially approved plans to transform the Highways Agency into a government-owned company in less than a year.

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has outlined how a £500m fund will help boost the UK’s ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV) industry, which he says has the potential to be a ‘world leader’.

Telford and Wrekin Council has announced early returns on an investment in new highways asset management software, suggesting it will ‘significantly increase’ the authority's current capabilities.

Warrington BC has announced a £40m invest-to-save programme of highways re-surfacing, to take place over the next three to five years.

For Dr Daniel Ruiz, managing director of Imtech Traffic & Infra UK, the world of traffic and transport is changing rapidly and the industry must raise its game to keep up. Adrian Tatum reports.

Highways experts have reacted to the latest assessment of the local road network showing a £12bn repair backlog, by calling for greater long-term planning and funding as the only way to solve the growing crisis.

More than 110 ‘spy car’ vehicles are being used by councils to carry out parking enforcement in England and Wales, resulting in up to £32m of possible fines in just one year between 2012-13, it has emerged.

Experienced highway engineer Chris Summers takes a look at how road maintenance techniques have changed over the last generation, for better and worse...

We welcome the challenge behind the Government trebling funding for the road network over the next eight years and we relish the opportunity.

A motorist who campaigned against a £65 traffic fine and in doing so could have costs councils millions of pounds in overturned moving traffic violations has lost his case.

Parking penalty charges have been frozen under new Government plans to ease parking restrictions to help support town centre high streets.

Infrastructure firm FM Conway has landed three major highways maintenance and public realm contracts in the heart of London, worth up to £450m in total.

Council chiefs have renewed calls for reforms to the emergency financial support provided in the wake of flooding.

A senior Transport for London (TfL) official has used a national conference speech to highlight schemes used overseas to help support continued investment in urban transport, suggesting our funding mechanisms are behind international gold standards.

Mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled the largest investment programme for London's road network in a generation, with £4bn planned for dozens of transformation projects.

Police forces around the UK have cost the taxpayer more than £600,000 in the past four years by filling their cars up with the wrong fuel, new figures show.

Transport Scotland has unveiled a further £10m of new money to help boost trunk road maintenance schemes in the remainder of this financial year.

What does the industry gain from paying more attention to the social and economic benefits of investment in local infrastructure? And how can we use this to influence future funding? Dominic Browne reports from the latest in a series of round table debates.

Gatwick Airport has upped the stakes in the race to expand the UK's aviation capacity, offering noise-affected households an annual payment of £1000 if a second runway is built.

More than 20 councils have committed to launch a municipal bonds agency later this year to help boost local transport infrastructure investment, the Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed.

Councils in England are being offered an additional £140m for repairs to roads damaged by bad weather, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.

Road safety markings in Wales and Scotland have fallen ‘well below’ UK standards, with a majority requiring replacement, a survey has concluded.

Roads surfacing firms have joined the growing number of calls for the Government to boost investment in the local road network in the wake of the floods, arguing long-term damage has been done.

I offered to take the lead in developing the LEAN toolkit, as I was aware of its importance.

East of England council supremo Cllr Tony Jackson has revealed the Local Government Association (LGA), will be raising the issue of highways maintenance funding with the Government in the wake of the recent flood crisis.

Surrey CC’s repair bill for flood damaged roads and bridges has reached £12.5m for Christmas alone, more than double previous estimates.

The last two years of ‘unprecedented’ rainfall in North Yorkshire has increased the region’s highways backlog to £322m and left it pleading for urgent road maintenance cash before this summer's Tour de France.

The Government’s draft National Policy Statement (NPS) proposes building new roads for 40% more car, van and lorry trips by 2040. This is neither realistic nor desirable.

Liverpool City Council is set to invest £80m over the next eight years in its highways network, in a move set to significantly cut Liverpool’s £256m highways maintenance backlog by 2022.

Roads minister Robert Goodwill says 'capacity will be a problem' in delivering the Government’s £24bn highways investment commitment by 2021.

A partnership between Staffordshire CC and Amey could cut highways services costs by £21.5m over the next five years, councillors predict.

Councils, businesses and utilities today unveiled a new strategy for tackling local streetworks issues in a bid to minimise costs, disruption and the knock-on effects of shoddy work that can add to the UK’s pothole crisis.

Pothole damage costs Scottish local authorities more than £1,600 a day in compensation claims last year, figures suggest.

East Cambridgeshire DC has given the go-ahead to a £30m bypass, dubbed the A142-A10 link around the city of Ely.

Cash from the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is set to assist Glasgow City Council in switching its street-lighting to low-emitting LEDs, it has been announced.

Road tolling to pay for an expansion of the A14 was ‘universally unpopular’ according to a public consultation undertaken by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The first in a series of exclusive articles for Transport Network from the Road Surface Treatments Association, charts the rise and fall of high friction road surfacing.

A masterplan for future transport provision in East Lancashire will support ‘millions of pounds’ of local investment, councils have confirmed.

A City Deal for Oxford and the surrounding area will provide £55m of government funding for projects including local road and transport improvements.

The theme of this year’s annual ADEPT conference was ‘Localism and Growth’ with an emphasis on growth - described by president Steve Kent as ‘the word of the day and what we are about’.

The coalition government is now considering how to incentivise councils to adopt not just good asset management but all the HMEP good practice.

Council chiefs have raised concerns over Government plans to put tough conditions on highways maintenance funding for English local authorities, with ‘inefficient’ councils facing a 20% cut.

Public health bosses have sought to allay concerns in the NHS that health cash could be used by councils to repair potholes.

Gangs of fraudsters could be exploiting the UK’s pothole crisis to cheat local authorities out of compensation payouts, it has been claimed.

More than £17m has been ploughed into additional cycling improvements for the City of London and all 32 borough councils, it has been announced.

Devolved NHS funds could be used by cash-strapped councils to fill in potholes, the medical director of the NHS in England has warned.

Damage caused by the latest tranche of severe weather has cost the Highlands Council almost half-a-million pounds, it has been revealed.

The Government is releasing a further £6.7m for councils to support clean up operations following the recent flooding and severe weather.

Southend-on-Sea BC has raised more than £600,000 in under two years using CCTV camera cars designed to catch drivers parking illegally.

Highways capacity will be a key focus of the new Plymouth City Deal, as part of efforts to tackle local growth barriers.

Council chiefs have urged the Government to create an emergency fund to help repair the highways network following the winter flooding and years of under-investment.

CIHT The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) is holding its first national conference of 2014 on 19 March at the CBI Conference Centre, Centre Point Tower 103 New Oxford Street, London. The conference is entitled ‘Routes for Growth – ho

The vast majority of local residents are convinced the nation’s pothole crisis is getting worse with satisfaction levels as low as 9% - the worst for five years - according to new research by leading pollsters Ipsos Mori, seen exclusively by Transport Network.

Wolverhampton City Council and West Midlands transport authority Centro are set to launch a £1.4m package of transport along Stafford Road between Wolverhampton city centre and i54 in South Staffordshire.

Essex CC has undertaken an ‘amnesty’ on bus lane penalty charge notices (PCNs) following their reintroduction in Colchester.

Flood recovery minister Brandon Lewis has activated the Bellwin scheme providing emergency financial support for local authorities in the wake of the last few weeks of severe flooding.

Maintenance of major roads in the West Midlands will be passed to EM Highway Services from July this year, the Highways Agency (HA) has announced.

A new report shows councils have invested heavily in extra gritting salt, hardware and social media use this year, in order to keep the country's highways moving this winter.

Construction of the £56m Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) has begun with Mott MacDonald providing project management and technical support to Doncaster MBC.

Councillors in Birmingham have criticised the local authority’s bus lane enforcement policy after figures revealed 80,000 penalty tickets have been issued since the controversial scheme came into force last September.

Local government is set to see the Whitehall grant fall by 8.5% in the next two years, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has confirmed.

Cotswold DC has called on the Highways Agency and the Department for Transport to support a dualling scheme in the area to tackle ‘chronic’ congestion problems.

Ministers have revealed the winners of the latest tranche of local pinch-point funding, releasing £49m for 25 schemes designed to tackle congestion hot spots, alongside announcing a raft of major road and rail works.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has confirmed transport cash for the capital's councils will be spared cuts over the next three years, as the Local Implementation Fund (LIP) will be held at £148m a year up to 2016-17.

Preferred bidder status on a highways services contract worth as much as £450m has been given by Gloucestershire CC to infrastructure firm Amey.

Chancellor George Osborne kept true to form in today’s Autumn Statement, with tax relief for motorists forming a central plank of the Government’s transport announcements.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a consultation on the policy framework that transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin will base nationally significant road and rail scheme planning decisions on.

The M6 toll road has provided little benefit to road users and caused irreversible environmental damage, a new report claims.

Chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, confirmed today the Government is abandoning plans for a new tolled A14 link road.

Local MPs and business leaders have welcomed reports the A14 toll road will be scrapped leaving the Government to fully fund the project.

Concerns over the delivery of the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) have been raised as the prime minister attempts to drive investment in big projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), with Chinese capital.

London mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled plans for a £6bn rail “super-hub” that would see links for Crossrail and High Speed Rail 2 converge on a proposed north west London development dubbed ‘mini-Manhattan’.

Plans to cut three-quarters of a million from Cambridgeshire CC’s annual winter service budget have been criticised by opposition councillors and the AA.

More than 60% of public sector bodies in Scotland do not have plans to reduce their transport use and should be given a year to implement a Travel Plan, according to a new report.

Transport minister Baroness Kramer today gave a final go-ahead to release funds for £18m worth of major roadworks on some of the busiest networks in Merseyside.

The Highways Agency could slash procurement costs by 20% and make savings by laying and maintaining some stretches of road to lesser standards, the non-executive director, Alan Cook, has told the transport select committee.

Switched off street lights in Warwickshire contributed to the death of a student, a coroner has concluded.

Cheshire East BC has repaired more than 56,000 potholes so far this year, slashing the number of public pothole reports by 90% in the run-up to winter.

The boss of Atkins’ UK division has backed calls to devolve more infrastructure powers and funding to cities.

Gritters have been out in force on roads across the country as temperatures dropped across the UK in the last week, council chiefs have said.

Plans to improve one of outer London’s major transport routes have been announced by Croydon LBC and Transport for London (TfL) with a £45m package for the A23 corridor.

A petition has been launched by members of the UK Independence Party in Birmingham against plans to introduce 20mph zones across the city.

Guidance on the use of temporary snow plough attachments for local authorities has been issued by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Future peer review processes under the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) look set to be funded by up-front contributions from the local authority involved, Transport Network can reveal.

Council chiefs have called for an end to the nationally-set alcohol licensing system, claiming the costs incurred by councils over the last eight years could have paid to fill 2.8m potholes.

The UK’s leading trade organisation for highways maintenance service providers has released a new national strategy for the next three to five years together with a delivery framework and targets.

Transport Network originally reported the LGA had suggested councils were stockpiling an extra one million tonnes of salt this year. This was inaccurate and we have since been informed the true figure looks closer to 50,000 extra tonnes. We apologise for the mistake.

Local highways authorities (LHA) should share gritting salt this winter and only go to central government for extra stock as a ‘last resort’, according to a new Government protocol.

The east of England is due to deliver an impressive cost-benefit return on planned roads investment of £6.4bn for less than £876m spent, according to new Department for Transport (DfT) data.

The HMEP Standard Contract for HMS will be a key enabler to help facilitate other aspects of good practice promoted by HMEP such as greater client contractor collaboration, supply chain integration, LEAN, innovation and incentivisation.

Patching up roads with ‘glue’ has enabled Surrey CC to slash road maintenance costs by millions a year through cutting the use of thousands of tonnes of materials, the councils has claimed.

Around two thirds of councils have made cuts to streetlighting by either dimming lights or switching them off altogether, it has emerged.

Bucks Thames Valley LEP chair Alex Pratt speaks exclusively to Transport Network revealing the direction of travel for these key local bodies.

Business secretary Vince Cable has launched a £75m fund to help accelerate the development of green technologies for engines.

Infra-red ‘smart-eye’ parking bay sensors are due to be installed across the whole of London's West End to drive down congestion and carbon emissions, Westminster City Council has announced.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has called on infrastructure chiefs to work with Whitehall to develop a skills legacy from its planned £73bn capital spend.

Up to £419,000 could be cut from road and verge maintenance budgets over the next two years by West Berkshire Council.

Government, educational institutions and business must do more to ensure engineering expertise is grown in the UK, a new report has said.

Council chiefs have warned the Government against creating an external scrutiny system for local authority roads responsibilities, calling it ‘unnecessary and counterproductive’.

The Highways Agency has awarded a £70.5m construction contract to Carillion PLC to convert the hard should of a major strategic section of the M6 into an active lane.

A 'parking by phone' system is set to be established by Gloucestershire CC in a bid to simplify payment procedures and save residents money on permits.

Wigan BC has responded to the first signs of winter weather this year, sending out ten gritting vehicles to carry our precautionary treatments as temperatures fell below freezing in the borough for the first time this winter.

Prime minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg have jointly announced the Welsh Government will be given more financing powers, which could contribute to major infrastructure works.

A round table discussion on the benefits of road user charging, how tolls, congestion charging and distance based levies could be best deployed, alongside the fundamental issue of public acceptance.

A new competition is offering technology firms up to £30k to develop tools to improve highways maintenance efficiency.

Powers to shift the country’s motorway and trunk road network away from central government control have been put out to public consultation by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Lorry drivers' representatives have voiced frustration at the growing lack of new designs aimed at making Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) safer.

Road surfacing contractors have renewed pressure on chancellor George Osborne to announce immediate investment in road maintenance in his upcoming Autumn Statement.

The expansion of Telford town centre has lead to £11.8m planned improvements to surrounding transport infrastructure to facilitate the increased capacity at key entry points.

It was meant as a joke between friends on Facebook but has rapidly escalated into a nationwide story. A picture of one worker fixing a traffic light and six other Highways Agency workers doing...very little.

Lancashire CC and its under-fire chief executive, Phil Halsall, have parted company by mutual consent in the wake of a scandal over a fleet services contract.

The Government has announced more than £24m of funding to support major highways works in Leeds and on the A452 Chester Road in Birmingham.

Councils have lost public trust on parking and must justify how the revenue is raised with mandatory annual reports, chair of the Commons transport committee Louise Ellman has warned.

The Government wants a lot more roads built across the country but as the first schemes reach the planning stage, they are meeting stern opposition.

Motorists could see driving costs slashed under a package of measures announced by the Government today, including action on high insurance premiums.

A new sub-committee has been set-up by the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) to establish best practice specifications for road re-texturing and re-profiling.

Infrastructure firm Mouchel has won a highways contract worth up to £60m with Norfolk CC.

Councils have lost public trust on parking and must justify how the revenue is raised with mandatory annual reports, chair of the Commons transport committee Louise Ellman has warned.

All of Hartlepool’s street lights are to be replaced with new LED lights at a cost of £5m.

Ten new towns in the UK are in line to benefit from a Government-funded fuel rebate scheme that could save local motorists five pence per litre (ppl), ministers revealed today.

Plans to toll a segment of the A14 is unfair and threatening economic growth in the region, according to MPs at a Westminster debate on the issue.

Residents in Birmingham are being offered the opportunity to give an opinion on the introduction of 20mph speed limits on the city’s roads.

Highways authorities should only receive Whitehall cash if they have completed asset management plans, according to the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on highways maintenance.

Transportation plans across the East Lancashire region have been outlined by the county council in the area.

Construction work has begun on the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS), it has been announced.

Recent reports suggest car use in decline. Is the king of the road over the hill or is the reality more complicated? James Evison investigates.

Key infrastructure projects in Wales have been given a £617.5m boost, under the draft budget announced this week.

The Government's proposals to pay for improvements to the A14 by introducing tolls would create unfair competition and impact on economic growth, according to two West Suffolk councils.

The Government has unveiled £100m of funding to help enterprise zones complete key infrastructure projects such as road construction.

Wandsworth Council has repaired more than 6,500 potholes in the last seven months, as part of an extensive highways repair project that is close to its end.

Councils must prioritise spending on damaged pavements or face stranding visually impaired people at home, a charity has warned.

Councils in communities secretary Eric Pickles’ backyard are defying Government calls to end the use of so-called spy cars in parking enforcement.

Plans to axe a range of bus services and around 50 jobs in the Aberystwyth and mid-Wales area have been described as a ‘body blow’ likely to cause to 'bedlam' according to campaigners.

The Government has awarded £165m for a new relief road between the M56 and the A6, to improve access to Manchester airport.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has signed off a £40m cash injection for new bus stations and improvements across the Pennine Reach bus network.

Government ministers have cut red tape surrounding the creation of local business improvement districts (BIDs), which support high street regeneration with the offer of free parking.

Chancellor George Osborne has vowed to try and freeze fuel duty until May 2015 using more public sector savings to pay for it.

Local councillors have backed plans for the biggest expansion of Cardiff for more than 50 years but the scheme could still stumble over a lack of transport infrastructure critics say.

Ministers have revealed plans for a major overhaul of town parking rules in a move set to slash the amount of revenue councils raise from fines.

Chief secretary to the treasury, Douglas Alexander has told Transport Network that the Government’s A14 tolling plans could serve as a test case to base future tolling plans on.

The director of leading transport body the RAC Foundation, Professor Stephen Glaister CBE has called for a major expansion of London’s congestion charge, Transport Network can reveal.

Plans have been put forward by the new local transport body (LTB) in Lancashire to improve infrastructure across the county.

New guidance to help local authority highways departments work across the private and public sector divide has been published by the Government-sponsored Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP).

Labour could reverse the Highway Agency’s £1.5bn plans to create a new toll road to ease congestion on the A14, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has revealed.

Revised information on practical guidance for winter services (Appendix H) of the Well-maintained highways document has been released by the UK Roads Liaison Group.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has accused councils of ‘ripping off’ motorists after new research reveals British motorists pay out over £30m each month in parking fines.

Public concern about the state of our roads and the cleanliness of our streets leapfrogged schools, health services and even crime in this year’s Ipsos MORI research, as Victoria Harkness - head of local government research at independent research agency - explains.

The Transport Committee has announced a review of winter resilience – the third major study in four years - for the next session of Parliament.

Public space campaigners have urged the Government to invest £500m in town centres and provide greater support for pedestrian shoppers.

Plans to ‘decarbonise’ the transport sector have been signed off by the Liberal Democrats at the party’s annual conference in Glasgow.

Cold Comfort this year was launched with a round table hosted by Aebi Schmidt (ASH) and Surveyor on the challenges and opportunities that managing winter in and around airports bring for airport staff and local authority officers.

Cars should be banned from town centres and access opened up to active travel opportunities, according to local transport minister, Norman Baker.

Plans to develop 'self-financing street furniture' and allow temporary speed limits on deteriorating roads have been approved by Northamptonshire CC’s cabinet.

Thousands of residents living close to the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing are set to recieve unlimited trips across the Thames for £20 a year, it has been announced.

Plans to deliver £8bn in infrastructure spending over the next two years were outlined by the Scottish Government in its budget this week, with commitments to transport schemes despite swingeing cuts.

Local leaders in the north west have signed off on a City Deal to deliver growth to the region, with more than £200m worth of major transport projects planned.

Corby in Northamptonshire is set to have one the UK's most extensive electric vehicle charging networks, under plans announced today.

Transport expert Stephen Joseph OBE looks at the Government's £1.5bn A14 plans and finds little to please him.

Engineering consultant Mott MacDonald has been appointed to design the Highways Agency’s £24m 4km widening scheme on the A14 near Kettering.

Upgrades to the Barclays Cycle Hire system will take place this weekend, leading to the future expansion of the scheme to south and west London from December 2013.

The Highways Agency has published £1.5bn plans to upgrade the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon, including the possibility of local toll roads to ease congestion on the major route.

Concern has been raised about a £500m blackhole in the cost of five major transport projects in Scotland.

A seminar is due to be held at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation on the shared service arrangements in the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP).

Local transport minister Norman Baker today unveiled the Government’s strategy to remove petrol and diesel vehicles from UK roads by 2050, including providing ‘tax-free’ electric motoring until at least 2020.

Payment by motorists for parking charges and fines has increased by 10% in the last five years, according to data obtained by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

A leading highways sector body has released a new best practice guide for road maintenance and pothole repair patching systems.

Parking spaces are hot property in London, with one going up for sale for some £300,000 recently. So obviously every inch counts, but...

Dorset CC and West Dorset DC have added electric cars to their vehicle fleet to reduce carbon emissions and save money on fuel costs.

The majority of local authorities in the UK have adopted progressive pothole repair strategies in the wake of last year’s Pothole Review document, according to a recent survey.

More than ten councils and transport authorities across England will benefit from a share of £5m of funding to reduce pollution from local buses, local transport minister Norman Baker announced today.

Residents of Hampshire CC are being asked to voice their opinions on the town hall’s traffic management policy.

A groundbreaking new type of highway noise barrier that can produce renewable energy looks set to be trialled along parts of the M40 after the successful completion of a feasibility study.

Siemens has completed supply and installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across 12 London Underground car parks.

Management and maintenance of the strategic road network in East Anglia has been awarded to contractor Amey by the Highways Agency (HA).

Plans are being developed to put in place a ‘traffic light’ system to illustrate the busiest train services for travellers, according to the Department for Transport.

Aebi Schmidt provides the latest in our series of articles from experts in the winter services sector, looking ahead to Surveyor magazine's Cold Comfort conference 17 -18 September.

Car use across England and Wales has declined by 2% in the last decade, research has shown.

Information on proposed government construction projects worth up to £109bn have been published.

Young drivers feel they need more time to learn prior to being tested – and accidents could be avoided as a result, a survey has suggested.

Rising costs and skill shortages are the greatest challenge to the infrastructure sector, civils contractors have warned.

Five projects in Devon and Somerset have been given the go-ahead by the Local Transport Board.

The Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP) has been announced as the preferred bidder for the completion of the central Scotland motorway network project by Transport Scotland.

A contract to deal with incidents on the strategic road network has been won by Huddersfield-based firm FMG.

More than 400 motorists have claimed compensation for vehicle damage on Scottish motorways and trunk roads in the last 18 months, according to a freedom of information request.

Norwich’s northern distributor road (NDR) has been deemed to be a project of national importance by transport secretary Patrick McLouglin, leading the way for the scheme’s potential completion.

Communities minister Brandon Lewis has accused the Local Government Association (LGA) of 'encouraging unlawful activity' in its advice to councils on parking charges.

New technology has been implemented by West Midlands transport authority Centro to make planning journeys easier, it has been claimed.

Britain’s roads are going to go through changes as radical as those when the motorway network was first built.

Local authorities in Wales responsible for parking or moving-traffic enforcements will have to publish an annual report showing how actions have affected traffic flow.

The Highways Agency signed a contract worth up to £34.5m with FMG Ltd this week for the removal of vehicles from England’s motorways and major 'A' roads.

Drivers could be caught out by a range of new motoring offences and increased fines from midnight tonight as part of changes announced by Department for Transport (DfT).

A ‘Park & Go’ system, which includes automatic number plate recognition, is being trialled in a Bedford car park by First Capital Connect (FCC).

Hampshire CC is pushing ahead with plans to install a network of six rapid electric vehicle charge-points within its boundaries after securing £315,000 in the first tranche of a £37m electric vehicle fund released this month.

Fuel retailers in remote areas of the UK are being asked to let the Government know how much they charge for petrol and diesel as ministers plan a potential roll out of their fuel rebate scheme.

Drivers could be given a 15-minute ‘grace period’ on double yellow lines under plans floated by the Conservatives today - allowing shoppers to park on high streets and quickly use shops without fear of being fined.

Prime minister David Cameron today unveiled a £150m funding boost for cycling schemes across the country as part of a national drive to improve local infrastructure for bikes.

Low uptake of electric vehicle charging points in London proves greater focus must be given to converting buses and taxis, a minister has said.

Nine councils are looking to create a combined authority in South Yorkshire to streamline the decision making process in areas such as transport.

A new joint venture company is to supply building materials on the Isle of Wight while servicing the region’s £750m highways Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

The Department for Transport (DfT) has set out the strategic platform behind the Spending Review’s major transport investment, designed to ‘help transport planners to make the case for joined-up planning’.

Freight drivers and cyclist groups are at loggerheads over a decision by roads minister Stephen Hammond to abolish compulsory training for people driving Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) for repair or testing.

The time has come for Local Transport Bodies (LTBs) to shine. James Evison assesses how the new business and local authority grouping will work.

Peterborough City Council has named Atkins as its preferred bidder to deliver a ten-year highways contract worth up to £150m covering road maintenance, street lighting and gully cleansing.

Cumbria CC is to receive a further £7m boost from the Government to help repair local roads damaged by flooding in 2009, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced today.

A £375,000 contract to survey 350km of the M40 for the next five years has been awarded to technology company Yotta DCL.

Brighton and Hove City Council has announced plans to extend its 20mph speed limit across most of the city following a consultation due to begin this month.

Councils have been warned to not prevent households renting out their drives and unused off-street parking spaces by communities secretary Eric Pickles.

The Department for Transport has launched a £25m capital fund to support the construction of waste-to-fuel plants that can be used to produce road and aviation transport fuels.

A review of bus lane enforcement has been urged following figures revealing four times as many penalty notices were issued in Glasgow than in Edinburgh and Aberdeen for motorist incursions.

Drivers in remote areas will be offered a cut in fuel duty by the Treasury under plans announced today.

Motor insurers must ‘end practices which encourage fraud and exaggeration’ and introduce stricter requirements for whiplash claims in efforts to stamp out insurance fraud a cross-party group of MPs has warned.

The DVLA has released a 'top ten silliest excuses' for not buying a tax disc ranging from the classic/post-modern ‘my dog ate my reminder’ to the lurid and ludicrous.

Slowly but surely, the Government's road building plans are taking shape. After a three-year phoney war over what they were planning and how they were going to pay for it, we are beginning to get an idea about what is really on the table.

Barnet LBC has been accused of knowing all along that it would lose the recent landmark legal challenge against its parking charges.

The Government today released initial guidance to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) on bidding for the Single Local Growth Fund - which pools transport, housing and skills cash - calling on them to integrate plans with Local Transport Bodies.

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) is set to launch a new product on client-provider collaboration this summer, using UK case studies to help establish current good practice.

Local authorities in the capital do not run parking enforcement regimes with the sole purpose of being a revenue generator, London Councils has claimed.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has approved a joint roadworks permit scheme between Surrey and East Sussex county councils, which will ‘save millions by cutting traffic jams’ the authorities said.

Local authorities across the Merseyside region are to discuss plans to create a combined authority this month in an attempt to bid for more government funding and boost transport infrastructure.

Ministers must develop a comprehensive transport strategy to ‘reverse the trend of declining accessibility to key services in rural areas’ a cross-party group of MPs has warned.

The Government are still falling short on roads investment despite outlining £28bn of cash for roads up until 2020-21, according to the leading trade association for the road surfacing industry.

Council employees in Croydon will now be able to benefit from a pay-as-you-go drive service following a deal between the local authority and a network provider.

Westminster City Council has backed plans to expand airport capacity in the South East and labelled potential environmental impacts from air pollution 'negligible'.

The first new road bridge over the River Thames in 20 years was opened to traffic this week, linking Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton in South West London.

Surveyor's Cold Comfort 2013 conference and exhibition has been awarded Continued Professional Development (CPD) status by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation for the first time.

The Government's new command paper on roads has been welcomed and criticised in equal measure by the transport industry following the announcement of £28bn of highways investment.

Westminster City Council cabinet member for business - Cllr Daniel Astaire – discusses the future of parking in the heart of London.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has outlined plans to legislate for an overhaul of the Highways Agency (HA) and the delivery of extensive roads investment

Funding levels for local major transport projects from 2015-2019 will be 33% less than initially suggested by the Department for Transport (DfT), transport minister Norman Baker has revealed.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has announced a £10m investment programme to tackle the backlog of highways repairs and reduce the number of potholes on its roads.

Transport Scotland is being sued for close to £1m by a leading gritting company over claims the transport authority did not tender for salt supplies properly between 2009-11 and ended up being overcharged.

A major review of the standard code of practice for UK highways maintenance will reform the document to take account of ongoing public sector cutbacks, Transport Network understands.

The Government’s planned transformation of the Highways Agency into a publicly owned corporation will save at least £600m by the end of the decade, roads minister Stephen Hammond has claimed.

A Welsh local authority has saved close to a million pounds through changes to its school transport contracts, it has emerged.

An update on the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme’s (HMEP) Pothole Review has been released by the Department for Transport (DfT), as best practice from the project begins to be embedded across the sector.

Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans for hundreds of billions of investment in capital spending to ensure the ‘infrastructure needed to win the global race’ in 2015/16.

Improvements to the M4 and possibly a £1bn relief road for the motorway could be financed by tolls on the Severn crossings if the bridges are devolved to the Welsh Government, Welsh finance minister Jane Hutt has revealed.

Local authority responses to proposals for free-flow road user charging regimes - which operate without barriers or booths - have been revealed by the Department for Transport (DfT) today.

Plans for the future of London’s roads include the possibility of roofing arterial roads, tolling new infrastructure and enhancing place-making opportunities in the capital, the Mayor’s roads task force (RTF) announced today.

Kier’s takeover of support services provider May Gurney has started as 6,000 staff transfer over to the company.

After 34 years in local government, Leicestershire’s director of environment and transport talks to Dom Browne about why he is joining the private sector and the challenges that lie ahead.

The Government has published its latest guidance for 2013-14 on applying to the Bellwin Scheme for emergency financial assistance to local authorities.

With little in the way of new spending to announce, inevitably much of the focus around the Spending Round has been on presentation and framing of the debate by the Coalition.

The Government’s Spending Round commitment to boost flood protection funding will not be enough to defend the nation against the rising risks - with threats to roads and food production of particular concern - MPs have warned.

Cameras on buses could be involved in Cardiff CC’s plan to become the first council outside London to enforce moving-traffic rules.

Coalition growth guru Lord Heseltine today gave hope that the modest £2bn annual size of the single local growth fund – which pools transport, skills and housing cash - could increase in the next spending review period.

The Treasury announced one of the biggest investment programmes for transport infrastructure in UK history today, committing £28bn to roads up to 2020 and £50.1bn to High Speed Rail 2 (HS2).

A new department in Whitehall should be set-up to deliver better services - including transportation - for English local authorities, council chiefs have said.

Halton BC has announced Merseylink as preferred bidder for the Mersey Gateway Project, which will deliver a new £600m toll bridge to the region.

Local Transport Bodies (LTBs) will deliver only 40p in the £1 in actual construction work due to the bureaucratic burden placed on the project-bidding regime, it has been claimed.

Plans to boost UK construction over then next decade with partnership working have been put forward by the Government.

Asset management systems and services offered by Mayrise are being combined with new acquiring firm Yotta DCL to strengthen its UK and overseas business.

Portsmouth City Council has agreed to cancel all parking fines issue on 29 July after traffic chaos engulfed the city.

The Government’s £100bn investment in infrastructure must be complimented by a long-term funding strategy to ensure success, transport professionals have said.

The first shared roads service in Scotland has been agreed by East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Councils.

Local government directors have expressed ‘extreme concern’ at chancellor George Osborne's Spending Review statement yesterday, as councils face a further 10% funding cut in 2015-16.

The chancellor George Osborne outlined plans to cut the Department for Transport's day-to-day resource spending for 2015-16 by 9% in his Spending Review statement today.

Plans for around £300m of upgrade works for the A64 could go-ahead following safety concerns on the road, after proposals were put to councillors at Ryedale DC.

The chancellor, George Osborne, is set to outline his spending plans for 2015-16 and beyond later today, including cuts of £11.5bn across Government departments – with local government in the firing line

Warwickshire CC today announced it has won £7.6m from the Government for junction improvements through bidding on two separate cash streams.

Kent has become the first county council to implement lane rental charging legislation, in a bid to promote less disruptive road works.

Seven local authorities in the North East have agreed to establish a combined authority for the region focussing on skills, transport and inward investment., following simultaneous cabinet meetings.

Political disagreements, short-term strategies and erratic maintenance are undermining the potential economic benefits generated by transport infrastructure, according to a major report from the ICE.

Gloucestershire CC has invited four providers to submit bids for the council highways contract, worth up to £450m.

More than half the population do not have reasonable access to ‘key services’ particularly hospitals, an influential group of MPs has warned in a report released today.

Owner of the M6 toll road have offered the Government a deal to allow free use of the motorway at times of peak congestion, in exchange for the firm being released from an obligation to part-finance a link road, it has emerged.

The Treasury has appointed solicitor Margaret Bonsall to lead a new unit to represent the public sector on the boards of PF2 projects – the successor to PFI - and manage its future stake in public infrastructure.

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce a multi-billion pound six-year infrastructure investment programme in the Spending Review this Wednesday.

Stephen Joseph OBE on why the chancellor needs to move away from plans for a few big new schemes and toward on-going investment to mend and maintain our roads.

Motorists are set to benefit from streamlined regulatory services, ministers announced today, as driving tests and goods vehicle testing will soon be provided by a single agency.

Solihull MBC and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership have launched a masterplan to create 100,000 new jobs based around the region's key transport hub.

Hampshire CC has been awarded £4m of government funding to implement traffic reduction measures on a congested roundabout.

Streetlights may be turned off and parks closed to pay for social care, according to council chiefs.

The Welsh Affairs Committee has held an extra session with transport minister Stephen Hammond to discuss the management and economic impact of the Severn crossing tolls regime.

Plans to ensure transport planners are trained to the highest level are being piloted by Hampshire CC.

Local authorities have endorsed proposals for a South Wales Public Transport Fund, similar to England’s City Deals.

The Highways Agency made savings of nearly £300m over the last year under the Government’s infrastructure efficiency drive, Ministers claimed today.

Milton Keynes Council has invited eight companies to bid for a 10-year contract worth up to £200m, covering the maintenance of its roads, bridges and street lighting.

DfT and DCLG among signatories to a new code of conduct for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) designed to ‘fundamentally change’ the way costs are reduced from the legacy of expensive Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts, officials said.

The M6 toll motorway model is not the best option for road user charging and should not be expanded across the network, the RAC’s technical director has told Transport Network.

Pay-as-you-go road user charging should be introduced on a voluntary basis with a view to creating a ‘system-wide pricing system for roads’, a leading free market think tank has claimed.

Highways and transportation professionals celebrated the best of this year’s outstanding achievements last night at the annual Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) awards.

Drivers have called for a greater share of the motoring tax they pay to be re-invested in improving and maintaining the highways network, a major motorist survey claims.

Herefordshire CC’s cabinet has named Balfour Beatty Living Places as the preferred bidder for its £200m ten-year public realm services contract.

The boss of Atkins in the UK and Europe has told Transport Network he remains ‘cautiously optimistic on roads’ despite selling the company's highways business to Skanska.

Cardiff CC plans cheaper disabled parking bays in residential areas by omitting Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) and signs on poles.

The Institution of Civil Engineers is urging England to copy Wales’ Local Government Borrowing Initiative (LGBI), which is providing £170m over three years for highway repairs.

The Government is set to roll out a £100m fund for transport and infrastructure investment in Local Enterprise Zones, communities secretary Eric Pickles announced today.

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is to chair a new Cabinet committee - attended by the transport secretary and the chancellor - charged with driving local growth and job creation.

The Highways Agency has awarded EnterpriseMouchel a £140m contract for maintenance and improvement work on central southern English roads.

The Government’s understanding of the impact of swingeing cuts to local services including transport budgets has been slammed as ‘superficial and incomplete’ by a committee of influential MPs.

Liverpool City Council has awarded a £113m street cleansing and highways maintenance contract to Amey, in a move designed to save the authority £33m.

Transport Committee starts taking oral evidence for its new inquiry into local authority parking enforcement next week.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has left the door open to providing further local pinch point cash after exhausting the current £190m fund on some 72 congestion-busting projects.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin today released the second tranche of Local Pinch Point Fund cash, providing a further £165m to help tackle congestion across England and potentially create more than 10,000 jobs.

More than 4,000 motorists in England and Wales appealed against local charges for parking on private land in the six months to March this year, with 54% of decisions in favour of the driver, according to a report published today.

Cost-effective road repairs and the protection of health services are among priorities for the new administration at Cornwall Council, cabinet members have outlined.

Whitehall departments made £10bn in efficiency savings last year, including £145m saved from Crossrail, ministers have announced.

Testing is due to begin on the Luton-Dunstable busway next week, following the completion of a guided track.

Leeds City Council is set to invest £1.5m on pothole repair across the city in the next six months, it has announced.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) has claimed the UK should invest more in infrastructure for growth.

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, has delivered his plans to ensure the city has 'among the best transport system in Europe'.

Electric bicycle hire could be introduced in Edinburgh following a demonstration of their potential by an entrepreneur.

Plans have been put forward by Surrey CC to hand over more control of highways maintenance to community groups, it has been reported.

Cheshire West and Chester Council alongside Cheshire East and Warrington Councils have agreed to work together on a new regional transport body.

The Highways Agency has announced further complications with its new Asset Support Contracts (ASC), as the £150m-£200m Area 8 contract is forced into a negotiated tender process due to ‘irregularities’ in company bids.

A new cross-sector roadworks taskforce established to tackle ‘shoddy works’ has resolved to improve contractors’ performances and make claiming compensation easier for small businesses after its first meeting this week.

A Surrey CC highways scheme giving local councils a bigger role in running services including managing highway verge grass cutting, hedge trimming and repairs to signs is set to be extended.

Somerset CC has launched a £200,000 grant fund to support residents and local councils boost flood defences.

Campaigners have called on the Government to withhold funding for the controversial £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road after East Sussex CC cuts back on walking, cycling and public transport measures originally included in the project.

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) has published new asset management guidance for highways infrastructure today.

An initiative between five major local authority pension funds is set to pioneer investment schemes that could deliver pro-growth infrastructure projects while maintaining fiduciary duties to members.

The UK could follow the likes of Canada in creating ‘super-barns’ for its winter service salt supplies, capable of holding up to 50,000 tonnes under a single structure, Transport Network can reveal.

The Highways Agency has today published three route-based transport strategies as the first step in a major shake-up of service delivery on the nation's strategic highways network.

Local spending on highways maintenance in Scotland has been slashed by almost 15% over the last two years as the austerity programme deepens north of the border.

Barnet LBC has selected Capita as the preferred bidder for a join venture to deliver development and regulatory services including highways work, as the council's controversial outsourcing plans continue.

The state of Scotland’s highways has been branded unacceptable by a national spending watchdog after it found a third of local roads were still not up to standard despite warning councils of the problem two years ago.

Minor traffic offences are to be dealt with in special courts to speed up the justice system and free up more time for investigating serious cases.

Conwy CBC has learnt a 'harsh lesson' following a dispute with leading infrastructure firm Atkins over a £1m overspend on a £4m new road bridge.

Transport for London (TfL) has said funding for the mayor’s £1bn Vision for Cycling still stands, despite reports of upcoming spending cuts.

A £30bn investment in infrastructure would be the most effective way to boost economic growth, according to a report.

Concern has been raised by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Road Haulage Association (RHA) about recent Department for Transport (DfT) advice on annual statutory tests for garage technicians and mechanics driving HGVs.

A joint highways procurement initiative has seen 28 local authorities come together to generate £5m of savings.

Major new transport infrastructure has been proposed in Cambridgeshire to prevent congestion issues in the next decade.

Wirral MBC is re-tendering its highways service contracts this summer, valued at £30-40m.

Transport for London (TfL) is braced for budget cuts of some 15% in the next spending round but has already started a fight back led by London’s mayor Boris Johnson.

Transport authorities generally coped well with the recent cold snap but strategies will have to be revised to keep highway networks open in future years, according to an authoritative report published today.

Prime minister, David Cameron, has told foreign investors that Britain’s transport infrastructure is open for business.

Local spending on highways and transport could be slashed by more than 15% as the Government plans to cut more of councils' budgets, council leaders have warned.

Costain has admitted its failed takeover bid for contractor May Gurney has cost the firm around £4m.

A new cross-sector taskforce has been set up to tackle the problem of ‘shoddy roadworks’, which have cost the taxpayer half a billion pounds over the past two years.

Increased congestion on the M6 and an inability to deal with a projected 25% rise in traffic means the adjacent toll road should be nationalised, Centro chief executive, Geoff Inskip, has claimed.

Transport issues have dominated debate on the local election campaign trail with pledges being made across the country to boost highways maintenance programmes, protect bus services and build new roads.

A groundbreaking overhaul of how major local transport schemes are funded in Yorkshire is set to be finalised next week as six councils join forces to boost connectivity throughout the region.

The Government’s 'Infrastructure Plan' is nothing more than ‘a list of projects’ with no ‘strategic vision [or] clear priorities’, according to an influential group of MPs.

Seven major councils in the North East have unveiled plans to abolish the local integrated transport authority and create a ‘super council’ to boost economic growth by collaborating on transport and skills.

House of Commons transport questions this week tackled bus and rail fares, south coast rail capacity and pinch-point and highways maintenance funding.

A leading group of MPs has called on the Government to appoint a single minister with responsibility for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Leading infrastructure and highways maintenance firm May Gurney is the subject of a bidding war, with Kier Group launching a ‘knockout’ bid to end the plans of its smaller rival Costain.

Leading motorist group, the RAC Foundation, has backed calls for the European Commission (EC) to consider tough CO2 emissions targets for 2025 when the issue is put out to consultation this year.

Electric cars could become five times more efficient than conventional petrol-powered vehicles across their lifecycle by 2030, the Government’s climate change watchdog has claimed.

Councils in the south west of England are set to lobby government to end the ‘scandalous’ state of the region’s transport links.

Councils across Scotland have run millions over budget trying to cope with last year’s winter, which some highways teams have called the ‘busiest that can be remembered’.

A series of changes to London's congestion charge were announced today, as mayor Boris Johnson aims to make the scheme greener.

At least £600m a year should be dedicated to boosting cycling rates in Britain to achieve a 10% share of journeys by 2025, a group of MPs and peers said today.

The Northern Ireland executive will devolve responsibility for roads and off-street parking to councils as part of a package of reforms announced by ministers this week.

Business secretary Vince Cable has championed City Deals paving the way for more local transport funds, while suggesting the Government’s single growth pot is unlikely to be as large as originally recommended.

Lord Heseltine describes a Whitehall turf war over the single local growth pot and talks to Transport Network about transport authorities bidding for the cash.

More than £500,000 is owed to just three councils in the south of England in unpaid parking fines issued to foreign-registered vehicles since 2009.

Visitors to Traffex this week heard from the Government about how it is using the transport sector to push for economic growth, consulting on proposals to overhaul traffic sign legislation, and creating more sustainable travel..

Local authorities could lose the power to fund highways projects through both the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 278 Highways Act agreements, under proposals unveiled by ministers this week.

Leading road contractor Lafarge Tarmac has won a major highways contract with Halton and Warrington BC worth up to £70m over a potential 10 years.

Parking is intrinsic to a successful town centre and digital technology can revolutionise how it is paid for, according to Guy Douglas of the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM).

All the news from day one of Traffex,the 26th international traffic engineering, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), road safety, parking and highway maintenance exhibition.

Bemrose Mobile is offering local authorities millions of pounds of financial support with their transport and car park departments.

Additional cash is not required to declutter streets, the former head of design at Transport for London (TfL) has stated.

Norfolk CC has rejected May Gurney’s appeal against being dropped from a £350m highways contract the firm has been working on for the last nine years.

The Highways Agency has promised it is ‘on track’ to meet the tough targets set by the Department for Transport (DfT) for this parliament, despite being unable to release progress figures.

With the early severe weather and current financial restrictions affecting efforts to repair the UKs growing number of potholes, James Evison fears there may be no quick fix imminent.

Using tax increment financing (TIF) to fund a major infrastructure project in the Battersea area has been described as ‘a hell of a risk’ by the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) chief of staff.

The Highways Agency has unveiled 58 schemes it will deliver as part of the third and final stage of its £317m pinch-point programme – 26 of which have been developed with local authorities.

Cities in the developing world need to future-proof infrastructure, including the usage of transport systems, in order to ensure long-term prosperity according to a new report.

Jason Russell, a passionate advocate for HMEP, talks to Dominic Browne about Surrey’s Operation Horizon and the future of highways.

Worcestershire CC, Halcrow and Ringway worked together to develop a new approach to delivering small routine highway schemes more efficiently. Max Wiltshire reports.

The Government must act to provide ‘real transport alternatives’ a leading charity has warned following claims forecourt petrol sales have fallen by more than 20% in the last five years.

May Gurney plans to appeal against a decision by Norfolk CC not to renew its 10-year highways contract.

Councils in Scotland have been accused of using bus lanes as a 'cash-cow', after raking in millions of pounds in motorist fines.

Funding for individual transport modes should be more reflective of the amount the public use them, leading cycling experts have claimed.

Councils are struggling with the transport aspect of local plans according to the author of a new report revealing councils have been pushed into extra house building under the new system.

Two new reports have been released by TRL which should be of significant interest to Transport Network readers.

Cash for improving congestion at 10 sites across the UK has been announced by the Department for Transport (DfT) as part of its Local Pinch Point Fund.

Whitehall management of major infrastructure projects, including transport schemes, has been described as ‘worryingly poor’ by a senior government adviser, following the release of a new report focusing on the issue.

The chancellor’s 2013 Budget failed to address issues surrounding local transport according to a Transport Network survey, supported by our sister publication LocalGov.

Scores of local authorities have won a share of a £40m cash pot to help improve cycle safety across the country, transport minister Norman Baker has announced.

Ministers have set the Highways Agency a range of challenging performance targets, including making 20% savings on major schemes and carbon emissions by 2015.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is facing national protests after transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin today approved £57m of government funding for the controversial £90m Bexhill–Hastings Link Road.

Chancellor George Osborne is set for conflict with the Welsh Government over plans for the construction of Britain’s second toll motorway to relieve the M4.

Devon’s unitary authorities have estimated it will take at least £800m to repair the county’s battered road network, following freezing weather and flooding this winter.

Highways work under Transport for London’s (TfL’s) groundbreaking London Highways Alliance Contracts (LoHAC) framework will start this week, potentially delivering schemes worth more than £2bn over the next eight years.

Manufacturing chiefs have called on ministers to prioritise roads spending over rail, as they warn transport infrastructure has become a critical issue for the sector.

Leeds City Council will take a lead role in delivering local transport infrastructure to pave the way for major development projects, councillors have revealed.

The Department for Transport (DfT), along with other ministries, is facing further budget cuts of up to 10% under plans being drawn up for the next spending review.

Severe weather over the last year has worsened the UK’s pothole backlog by £338m, according to the annual ALARM report.

Chief executive of the North East LEP has claimed transport links in the area are ‘just fine’, and it is right the South East gets 80% of infrastructure spending.

Leading highways maintenance experts have slammed the Government in the wake of the Budget for leaving councils fighting a 'losing battle' against potholes.

Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget this year gave relief to motorists with the cancellation of the scheduled rise in fuel duty for this September but no extra funding for roads.

Experts across the local government, engineering and transport sectors have given a mixed reaction to chancellor George Osborne’s 2013 Budget, highlighting a range of missed opportunities.

Tesco has made plans with developers for a multi-million pound road scheme in Swansea against local wishes.

An extra £3bn infrastructure spending is due to be released for 2015/16, the chancellor George Osborne has announced.

Details of how the Government is meeting the ‘financing gap’ for investment in infrastructure have been detailed in the 2013 Budget documents.

Immediate reaction to the Budget announced today (March 20) centred on the need for economic growth and criticism of the lack of cash for small-scale roads and transport projects.

Nearly 70% of Transport network readers believe today’s Budget should include increased funding for highways maintenance, with 60% calling for extra money for sustainable transport projects.

The Government has rejected claims that flood-defence funding has been slashed in half - a move that could leave roads and transport links vulnerable to serious damage following extreme weather.

The Government has given the green light to two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset, paving the way for millions of pounds worth of local roads investment.

The Treasury has unveiled a new concessionary lending rate for up to £2.5bn of local infrastructure projects nominated by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Chancellor George Osborne today announced plans to create a single pot of local government growth funding, to drive areas including transport.

Excluding councillors from the management of the Forth Road Bridges in Scotland is the right decision, influential MSPs have said.

London risks losing its ‘world class’ transport system without sustained funding and restrictions on car journeys, a major report has warned.

Traffic wardens should be more lenient to motorists in a bid to boost local trade, according to communities secretary Eric Pickles.

Two major groups of local authorities have unveiled regional growth plans – with a strong emphasis on transport - building on the recommendations made by Lord Heseltine in his report to government No stone unturned.

Local transport minister Norman Baker has approved nearly £15m of government funding for congestion relief work in Loughborough town centre that will move traffic onto a new inner relief road.

The chancellor will deliver his 2013 Budget on 20th March - but what will it mean for local government?

‘Big data’ analysis software - allowing public sector bodies to cross-reference a vast wealth of different information sets - is the future of local government transport, according to senior figures in the industry.

Devon’s district councils are set to lose responsibility for issuing parking fines after an independent report found the authorities were making an annual £800,000 loss on the service.

Seven Welsh authorities plan a region-wide Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), as criticism mounts of local government’s fragmentation in Wales.

Council chief executives have warned MPs that Local Enterprise Partnerships’ (LEPs) transport strategies should cover ‘whole functional economic areas’ (FEMAs).

Highways inspectors in Rochdale BC are achieving ‘significant gains’ in efficiency following upgrades to their mobile working software.

Business leaders are united on the need for more road and wider infrastructure investment in advance of chancellor George Osborne’s next Budget on 20 March.

Five councils in West Yorkshire are set to launch a £1bn 'congestion busting' transport fund for the region, following the approval of their City Deal last summer.

Transport Network wants to know your opinions on City Deals. Please leave a comment below if you have any insights on what they mean for UK transport. We particularly want to hear from any councils that are developing their own growth plans, after all why wait for Whitehall? Let us know what you have up your sleeve...

Northamptonshire County Council has called on ministers to support a 10-point growth strategy for the region.

The Department for Transport (DfT) needs to give councils more control over refranchising local schemes, a report on Whitehall decentralisation has claimed.

What investment for transport?

Croydon has become the first council to have both its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Local Plan - Strategic Policies (CLP) approved by the secretary of state.

The Government has set out its vision for how infrastructure in the UK can be delivered more efficiently.

Over £290m will be invested in 93 newly green-lit flood defence projects this year, potentially protecting an additional 64,000 homes from water damage.

All 20 areas bidding for the second wave of City Deals have been invited to negotiate new powers with the Government.

The Scottish Government has allocated additional funding to upgrade the condition of its strategic road network.

The Government could more than double its return on transport investments if local authorities were given more freedom to drive projects, ministers were told this week.

Government plans to revise traffic impact assessment rules for new developments affecting the strategic route network (SRN) could be short-sighted, the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) has warned.

A few weeks ago I was invited by Austroads (the strategic road authority of Australia) to give the keynote address at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) Road and Transport Congress in Hobart, Tasmania.

Local authorities throughout the UK are preparing themselves for the biggest snowfall of the season today.

Somerset CC has received a £5m funding boost from the Department for Transport for essential maintenance to its highways in the wake of devastating floods.

There is no conclusive evidence that parking tariffs are influencing the decline of high streets or town centres, according to a new report.

Gritting teams across the country have prepared for snowfall this week, as a prolonged cold snap was announced by the Met Office.

Transport Scotland has revealed a key motorway junction - part of the Forth Replacement Crossing project - will open next month ahead of time and under budget.

Councils are being urged to ensure pavements are given the same attention as roads as gritting teams prepare for this weekend’s cold snap.

Over the past 18 months, Surveyor has pressed the case for an effective monitoring and evaluation framework for the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF).

The future of the Highways Agency and how to fund new road infrastructure during the prolonged economic downturn have been given much media attention of late.

The so-called ‘Second Battle of Hastings’ had heated up as campaigners have vowed to keep holding-up construction of the Bexhill-Hastings link road.

Council income from parking charges increased by nearly 15% in 2011/12 as town halls raised over £411m, a report finds.

Drivers could face ‘pay as you go’ charging for using the road as part of investment in the nation’s transport system, according to reports in Sunday papers.

Local authorities have been invited to apply for a £170m pot of ‘pinch point’ funding to remove bottlenecks on the road network.

The Government has awarded £2m of air quality grants to dozens of councils in England, as part of efforts to support the investigation of Low Emission Zones and help create guidance for reducing local pollution levels.

TN aims to bring you breaking news, analysis and commentary from the transport industry.

Transport chiefs in Scotland claim they are better prepared for extreme weather events this winter after a series of improvements were made to network resilience and communication with travellers.

Public support for 20mph zones has almost reached an outright majority, according to new research published this week.

A contract notice has been put out by the Highways Agency for the £81m widening scheme of A160/180 - one of four schemes due to be trialled for quicker delivery.

Details of cash allocated in the chancellor’s Autumn Statement include a £215m fund for local road maintenance, transport secretary Patrick McLouglin has announced.

The initial phase of Scotland’s first Intelligent Transport System (ITS), which will operate across the planned Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC), has gone live.

The Government has issued fresh guidance on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to clarify its relationship with other types of developer funding, such as Section 106.

Consultation on the Integrated Transport (IT) Block funding offered by the Department for Transport (DfT) includes plans to end ‘perverse incentives’, it has been announced.

Campaigners opposed to the Bexhill-Hastings link road begun direct action at the weekend in a bid to halt the £94m scheme.

Highways departments and winter service personnel are being treated as a ‘soft target’ for cuts, despite difficulty retaining skills in the sector, according to ADEPT.

Blackpool Council will be the second local authority to receive an assessment of its highways maintenance services through a ground-breaking sector-led peer review process first revealed by Surveyor (30 November).

Council chiefs are calling on residents to beware of thefts of grit bins and stored salt, as well as avoiding door-to-door sellers.

The mayor of London has set out plans to double the amount of money spent on the capital’s road network.

Highland Council will maintain its winter gritting budget at previous levels despite spending restraints, councillors have affirmed.

Nearly £150m has been set aside by Transport for London (TfL) for councils in the capital to undertake local transport schemes, it has been announced.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is assessing plans to pool town hall pension funds, to kick-start the country’s 500 stalled priority infrastructure projects.

What impact will the Autumn Statement have on local government funding?

The next 3 months will see the busiest period to date for HMEP with up to 7 products being released and at least another 5 seeking approval to be progressed. The products and scheduled release dates are as follows:-

Formal pedestrian crossings have been implemented in a shared space area of Coventry city centre, following a review by the local authority of the policy.

The Government will invest £333m in a dedicated highways maintenance fund to support essential works to ‘renew, repair and extend’ the life of England’s road network, it was revealed this week.

Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a ‘revolution in infrastructure financing’ under the Treasury’s remodelled private finance initiative (PFI), in his Autumn Statement.

Council chiefs have called for urgent reforms to highways maintenance funding to tackle a £10bn blackhole in road repairs and prevent a national pothole crisis.

A new approach to road upgrades will be piloted on four motorway-widening schemes, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced this week, as the Government pledged to speed up delivery of highway improvements.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is open to bespoke ‘transport deals’ to devolve more power over local networks to individual councils, transport minister Norman Baker has revealed.

Two out of every five highways in Britain require immediate work on road markings and standards are declining at ‘an alarming rate’, it has been claimed.

Councils are ‘essential’ to successful investment in transport infrastructure, the Local Government Association (LGA) claimed in a briefing released this week outlining future financing and management options for the UK road network.

Shared space is growing in the UK. Schemes in Ashford, Gloucester, Brighton and Southend have all received publicity and differing degrees of reception over recent years, but the notion of seamlessly blending traffic and pedestrian flows has been a part of continental European culture for some time now.

It is generally recognised that many councils cannot afford to maintain their play space, or raise enough new funds to build a new one, in the current financial climate. Play is therefore in something of a dilemma in terms of future progression.

Government’s failure to ensure long-term affordable insurance could leave 200,000 households without cover against flood damage, insurance companies have warned.

The introduction of new parking charges in Brighton has cut trade by 25%, according to local businesses.

A new approach to road upgrades will be piloted on four motorway-widening schemes, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced this week, as the Government pledged to speed up delivery of highway improvements.

London mayor Boris Johnson should apportion more road space to cyclists to reduce casualties, according to a cross-party report published on Wednesday during national road safety week.

Two out of five highways in Britain require immediate work on road markings and are declining at ‘an alarming rate’, it has been claimed.

The most ‘cluttered’ route in the country and remains difficult for disabled access, a survey claims.

Coventry City Council has launched its £6.9m Cycle Coventry project, which will upgrade existing routes and create new ones over the next three years.

The Government’s decision to reduce funding for highways maintenance will worsen the quality of local roads and risks ramping up long-term costs for councils, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) has announced plans to develop two new best practice toolkits, including a guide to removing inefficiencies in highway maintenance, employing the ‘Lean’ working method.

Ministers have approved the A5-M1 link road, and construction work on the previously-shelved project could now be brought forward to 2014, subject to local planning agreements.

A leading highways industry body has backed growing calls for a regulatory asset base (RAB) model to secure private investment to plug the funding gap in the UK road network.

Legal foundations are being laid for pay-as-you-go road user charging without toll booths, as the Department for Transport (DfT) launches consultation on an automated system for the Dartford crossing.

More regional City Deals designed to improve strategic area-based transport links, similar to the Leeds City region deal, could be on their way, according to cities minister Greg Clark.

Councils in London, together with Transport for London (TfL), could save up to £450m and drive through around £2bn of road investment after awarding four major new area-based highways contracts.

Concern over the safety of shared-space schemes has been quashed by the author of Department for Transport (DfT) guidance.

Minister says reforming business rates will allow local spending on infrastructure.

New legislation to remove bureaucracy and boost business investment has been introduced to Parliament.

Free parking should be available in Wales’ towns to encourage shoppers onto struggling high streets, the Conservatives have said.

Councils should be given powers over creating their own user charging schemes.

City of York Council has been criticised over plans to shrink its highways budget, which would reduce funding for winter service and axe 16 full-time posts from the department.

here is already clear evidence that where authorities can harmonise specifications on key commodities over geographical areas they will achieve econom

Ministers this week outlined plans for £22bn of investment in infrastructure projects over the next three years.

Badgers 'could be shot in council car parks'

Business and council leaders have called for a stronger sense of shared advocacy between the sectors on infrastructure and economic growth issues – as the Government provided funding for preferred projects this week. Speaking to Surveyor after the launch of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) local g

How can we ensure we capture and embrace international best practice in Highway Maintenance? There is clear evidence from the work undertaken by Infrastructure UK that the cost of delivering and managing UK infrastructure is up to 30-40% higher than elsewhere in Europe. Why is this and how can we do more to understa

The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) has co-ordinated a joint submission to the Government – attempting to represent the transport sector ‘as a whole’ – calling for substantial changes to its controversial planning reform proposals. Leading transport planners, provid

Many of Scotland’s roads are still vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, according to Parliament’s climate change adviser. An independent report by the adaptation sub-committee of the UK Committee on Climate Change

The preferred bidders for two highways PFI contracts worth almost £3bn have been announced. Sheffield City Council revealed Amey is in line for its £2bn highways maintenance programme, which includes an initial five-year highways-renovation programme, before 20 years of maintenance. And Hounslow L

A Commons debate on cycling safety last week raised the prospect of cycling commissioners being appointed in every local authority in the country. The ongoing debate, attended by transport minister, Norman Baker, had raised a range of suggestions for improving cycling safety, on the back of campaigning from The

With the recent announcement that Amey is preferred bidder for a £2bn private-finance initiative (PFI) highways contract with Sheffield City Council, one could easily forget PFIs are not flavour of the month. In theory, the Treasury is

Vinci Concessions and Ringway have landed the Isle of Wight's multi million-pound highways PFI. Isle of Wight Council today announced the consortium as its preferred bidder for 25-year upgrade and maintenance contract. The island's cctv network will also be upgraded and current streetlighting stock will be

An accident-free record has been achieved on the Midlands Highway Alliance's (MHA) medium schemes framework (MSF1) projects since April 2010. Four contractors are involved in the framework – Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty/Birse JV, Ringway Infrastructure Services and a Tarmac-Carillion JV. Chair of the MSF

The Competition Commission has stated Lafarge and Tarmac must sell off an ‘extensive package of operations’ before their proposed joint venture can go ahead.

Government use of the private-finance initiative (PFI) is ‘unsustainable’ in its current form, an influential Commons’ committee has reported.

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