By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
The Mayor of the East Midlands says she is yet to find out the specific details about new funding to fix potholes across the region after the Government announced millions of pounds to improve the country’s roads.
On Friday (December 20) more than £75m in Government funding was announced for the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA).
The regional authority will now dish out the money to councils responsible for road maintenance, including Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
However, the leader of the County Council, Cllr Sam Smith (Con), has raised concerns over a lack of detail surrounding the exact amount each council will receive.
Cllr Smith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service his council currently gets £25m in Government funding for road maintenance, but he fears the authority could end up with the same amount or less once money when it is handed out.
“Repairing our roads and pavements is Nottinghamshire County Council’s number one priority. We are investing record amounts of funding into more resurfacing and this year we will spend over £65m on repairs,” he said in a statement.
“Funding announced will be issued to the East Midlands County Combined Authority, which will eventually passport it to us.
“Each year [the council] receives funding to repair roads and I fear that today’s announcement will not result in an increase of what we usually receive.
“We await confirmation on the figures from EMCCA and my highways department is working closely with the Combined Authority to clarify the figures. I hope we can confirm additional investment in the next few weeks.”
Speaking to the LDRS on Monday (December 23) Claire Ward (Lab), the Mayor of the East Midlands, said she could not provide details on how the money would be allocated, but insisted the funding was “new money”.
“This is money that we will be getting, it will be coming through the Combined County Authority,” she said.
“We need to see the final details on that funding, but the Government has put new money, given an allocation of money, for potholes, and that is fantastic news for our region because we know our roads really are in a poor state.
“When [EMCCA] gets the funding we will allocate that and make sure that the county councils and city councils respond and demonstrate what they’ve been able to do.
“The Government made a big announcement on the roads, they made a Government announcement from the [Department for Transport], and then we will have our allocation.
“Whether or not it was an increase we will have to see what money we actually get. I cannot provide the details on the allocation.”
