During today’s Transport Questions in the House of Commons, Tom Randall MP asked the Transport Secretary to outline how much of the over £8 billion recently announced will be allocated to the East Midlands.
Gedling’s Conservative Member of Parliament, Tom Randall said “Potholes and road repairs are a key concern for many of my fellow Gedling residents, so I very warmly welcome the recent announcement of over £8 billion to spend on potholes.”
Tom went on to ask the Transport Secretary for assurance that this extra funding will be spent where it is needed most and asked for an outline of how much of it will be coming to the East Midlands.
In response to Tom Randall MP, the Transport Secretary said: “Details of how that £8.3 billion of funding will be allocated to local authorities will be published in due course and I am hoping we will be able to make an announcement about that in the not to distant future to give [Tom Randall MP] that reassurance.
“It will be for each individual local highway authority to decide how they are going to spend that money and to focus on the most important part of the network. They have the local knowledge to do that and we trust them to spend that money wisely. I am sure [Tom Randall MP] will make representation to them about which parts of Gedling that money should be targeted at.”
Tom’s questions follows the recent announcement that the Conservative Government has committed an additional £2.2 billion to alleviate the scourge of potholes in the Midlands through a long-term road resurfacing fund, delivering smoother everyday journeys for drivers the Midlands and Nottinghamshire’s share of this will shortly be confirmed.
Speaking after Transport Questions, Tom said: “From travelling around my hometown of Gedling, I know that improving the state of our roads is important. Conservative-led Nottinghamshire County Council is investing an extra £15,000,000 extra into better, longer lasting, pothole repairs and, after I lobbied the Chancellor, I am pleased another £3,000,000 was recently provided to the Council.
“As a result of the HS2 savings, another £2.2bn for pothole repairs was announced for the Midlands and I am pleased that the Secretary of State has confirmed to me that details of each Council’s allocation of that will be announced shortly. I will continue to do all I can to ensure roads across Gedling get their fair share of this extra funding so that our journeys are smoother.”
