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Roads: Rural Areas

Asked by Patrick SpencerConservativeDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 25 June 2026UIN 11989

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the highways maintenance block formula on rural counties such as Suffolk.

Answered by Simon Lightwood

Every area faces its own unique challenges. That is why highways maintenance funding is based on established national datasets like road lengths, to help make the system as fair as possible across the country.

The Government plans to review the funding formula that it uses to distribute capital funding to local highways authorities to see whether it can be adjusted to consider, for example, the conditions that affect the wear and tear of local roads. Any review would be conducted to align with the end of the period for which highways maintenance block allocations have already been made.

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