NEWS
Survey highlights council headache over potholes
The cost of bringing local roads up to scratch has jumped by £1bn, partly because of the soar- ing number of potholes, accord- ing to the annual local authority road maintenance (ALARM) sur- vey.
Councils face an £895m budget shortfall in highways mainte- nance, they say, despite an ex- tra £200m from the Government pledged in February and in the Budget in March specifically to deal with potholes. The number of potholes filled in 2010-11 was 2,202,000, an increase of 59% on the year before.
Asked to estimate the one-off investment needed to get their roads into “reasonable condition”, local authorities came up with an aggregated figure of £10.65bn for England and Wales, up by £1.15bn on the year before.
Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, which produces the ALARM survey, Colin Loveday, said: “Local authorities are doing what they can, but reactive main- tenance – such as simply filling potholes when they appear – is at least 20 times more expensive
than planned preventative main- tenance.
“The annual shortfall in budget has increased this year and spending review cuts translate to a potential loss of another £440m over the next four years. The ad-
ditional £200m announced in February and March this year is welcome but if the Government wants to save the country mon- ey it should be investing in local roads now to save a massive re- pair bill later on.”
Most authorities in England and Wales were unable to make good the damage caused at the begin- ning of 2010 before the snow fell again at the end of the year, the survey reveals, although the situ- ation was better in London.
Under-funding of highway main- tenance programmes is believed by 90% of local authorities to threaten road user safety.
AA president Edmund King said: “The ALARM figures show that £100m here and there, although welcome, simply isn’t going to fix a problem of this scale.”
First Enterprise Zones set up
Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester and London will be among the first cities to house new-style ‘Enterprise Zones’ set up by the Government to promote economic growth. In the Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the Government would create 21 new Enterprise Zones, within Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP), with simplified planning rules, super- fast broadband and tax breaks for businesses.
Minister outlines future of fire services
Cuts to fire authority budgets have been back-loaded to give them time to adjust – unlike local authority budgets.
Fire minister Bob Neill, in his speech to the LGA’s ‘The Future of Fire’ conference, said the coun- try’s fire and rescue services have been given “some protection”.
On the Government’s preferred measure when discussing the cuts, ‘reduction in revenue spend-
ing power’, the single-purpose fire and rescue authorities have been handed a 2.2% cut in 2011- 12, and 0.5% in 2012-13.
Neill said: “Challenging times of change provide us with the impe- tus to seek out new opportunities and be innovative in the way we deliver for our communities and neighbourhoods.
“I know fire professionals under- stand the role they have to play
in helping to reduce the deficit, building a stronger and safer so- ciety, and a sustainable Fire and Rescue Service.”
Neill said fire authorities should ensure they handle the cuts without affecting the “quality or breadth” of services, through flex- ible staffing and shared services. And he said the Government has increased capital grant funding from £45m in 2010/11 to £70m in 2011-12.
The first four zones are centred on the Alliance Boots campus in Nottingham, Liverpool Waters, Manchester Airport and London’s Royal Docks. Enterprise Zones will also be based within 11 LEPs led by Birmingham and Solihull, Sheffield, Leeds, the Bristol area, the Black Country, Derby, Teesside and the North East. The other ten have yet to be identified.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “Enterprise Zones are una- shamedly pro-growth, with lower taxes and reduced regulations to attract business, but they are also unashamedly localist, keeping power and profits within the local area so communities benefit.”
public sector executive Mar/Apr 11 | 9
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