Local authority transport chiefs have called on ministers to come clean over suspected funding cuts, fearing grants for local schemes will be the main victim of shrinking budgets.
The Department for Transport allocates around 10% of its budget – £2.1bn a year – to local authorities. In previous years, its budgets had risen by 3% a year but this year Chancellor Alistair Darling stated that public spending would rise by no more than 0.7%.
The County Surveyors’ Society, which represents local authority transport officials, has claimed that the DfT is planning to reduce the amount of money available for projects such as cycling and road safety schemes.
CSS president Brian Smith told Public Finance: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to see where the pressure is going to be.
‘These schemes are often the lifeblood of what local authorities are about,’ he said. ‘They are investments in keeping your area moving.
He added that later this year local authorities would be drawing up their three-year local transport plans. ’
The Department for Transport allocates around 10% of its budget – £2.1bn a year – to local authorities. In previous years, its budgets had risen by 3% a year but this year Chancellor Alistair Darling stated that public spending would rise by no more than 0.7%.
The County Surveyors’ Society, which represents local authority transport officials, has claimed that the DfT is planning to reduce the amount of money available for projects such as cycling and road safety schemes.
CSS president Brian Smith told Public Finance: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to see where the pressure is going to be.
‘These schemes are often the lifeblood of what local authorities are about,’ he said. ‘They are investments in keeping your area moving.
He added that later this year local authorities would be drawing up their three-year local transport plans. ’
