Pot luck: Councils get £420m to tackle potholes this year
Chancellor Philip Hammond has promised a further £420m investment this financial year to help local authorities tackle potholes and and keep bridges safe.
Hammond also said he would make £150m available for small improvement projects, such as roundabouts.
“Every member of parliament will testify that potholes are high on the public’s list of concerns. So as autumn takes hold I am making an additional £420m available immediately to local highway authorities to tackle potholes, bridge repairs and other minor works in this financial year,” he told the House of Commons.
The chancellor also promised to give every secondary school in the UK an average of £50,000 this year to help buy “the little extras they need”.
He said: “We are investing record amounts in our schools and that investment is paying off with 86 per cent of schools now rated good or outstanding compared to 68 per cent in 2010. But I recognise that school budgets often do not stretch to that extra bit of kit that would make such a difference.
“Today I’m announcing a £400m in-year bonus to help our schools buy the little extras they need, a one-off capital payment directly to schools averaging £10,000 per primary school and £50,000 per secondary school.”