Get Those Potholes Fixed!
The last Conservative Government has announced massive new funding to help Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council repair local roads.
Transport Ministers had already promised to provide £8.3 billion of extra roads resurfacing funding for English local councils between 2023/24 and 2033/34 - all paid for with savings delivered by the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel HS2 Phase 2.
All the money that would have been spent on HS2 in the Midlands will still be spent in the Midlands, but on other transport projects which can be delivered faster.
Now, the Department for Transport has confirmed the specific allocation of additional funding which Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council will receive between 2023/24 and 2033/34. Over that period, Telford & Wrekin Council will receive an additional £32,035,000 and Shropshire Council will receive an additional £153,072,000.
This massive extra funding for road repairs in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin is more than enough to transform the state of local roads for the better.
It is now up to the local councils to use the money wisely for the benefit of residents. Too often, we hear Labour-run Telford & Wrekin Council blaming their own transport failings - from damaged roads to closed bus routes - on what they claim is a lack of government funding. With an additional £32 million given to them by the Conservative government to spend on local roads, there can be no more excuses. I will be keeping a close eye on progress with road repairs across the borough.
Protecting Local Bus Services
The last Conservative Government confirmed an extra £243 million of investment to improve local transport in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
The reallocated HS2 funding is providing local authorities in the Midlands with extra money to improve public transport, reduce congestion and upgrade local bus and train stations.
It is the first transport budget of its kind that is specifically targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas and which empowers local people and local leaders to invest in the local transport projects that matter most to their communities.
As part of the Conservative Government’s latest funding decision, Shropshire Council will receive an extra £136,443,000 and Telford & Wrekin Council will receive an extra £107,018,000.
Local authorities will receive funding from April 2025, giving them time to develop their funding proposals properly. Over the seven years as a whole this funding will be on average at least nine times more than local authorities currently receive through the local integrated transport block, which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their local areas.
This funding increase is for the Midlands and the North because most HS2 savings are from those regions. Every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the Midlands.
The last Conservative Government provided £650,938 to Telford & Wrekin Council last year as part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, plus a further £1.05 million using money saved by scaling back the HS2 project. That means Telford & Wrekin Council has received an additional £1.7 million from the Conservatives to provide more regular and reliable bus services and/or cheaper fares.
