Roads: Finance Mr. Spring To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent per capita on (a) highways and (b) other roads in (i) Suffolk, (ii) the East of England and (iii) nationally in each of the last five years. Mr. Khan The information is not available in the form requested. Funding for investment, maintenance and operation of strategic roads is the responsibility of the Highways Agency (HA). The HA’s reporting systems do not record actual expenditure for local authority areas; expenditure is recorded by project and activity. Estimates are compiled for regional expenditure to supplement data reported in the Department for Transport’s annual report. Details of Highways Agency expenditure are included in their annual report which is available in the Library of the House. The development and improvement of non-strategic roads in England is the responsibility of the relevant local transport authority. The Department allocates block funding to local transport authorities outside London for capital investment in transport improvement and maintenance projects. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities. There is additional funding available for detrunked roads and road safety schemes. The following table shows the allocations for England (excluding London), the East of England and Suffolk in each of the last five years for these categories. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Capital funding for non strategic roads|Funding for road safety and detrunked roads|Total funding|Per capita spend (£)| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2008-09 |21.545 |4.819 |26.364 |36.821 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2007-08 |21.845 |6.193 |28.038 |39.546 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2006-07 |17.610 |3.728 |21.338 |30.396 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005-06 |22.624 |3.586 |26.210 |37.658 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004-05 |22.230 |3.145 |25.375 |36.936 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |East of England | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2008-09 |157.791 |28.422 |186.213 |32.504 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2007-08 |159.476 |32.221 |191.697 |33.863 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2006-07 |152.826 |18.733 |171.559 |30.603 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005-06 |156.899 |10.225 |167.124 |30.042 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004-05 |156.586 |9.839 |166.425 |30.199 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |England (excludes London)| | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2008-09 |1,280.000 |183.691 |1,463.691 |33.398 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2007-08 |1,254.000 |181.936 |1,435.936 |32.983 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2006-07 |1,218.871 |83.716 |1,302.587 |30.117 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005-06 |1,215.285 |80.358 |1,295.643 |30.125 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004-05 |1,308.411 |63.509 |1,371.920 |32.113 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition over £118 million was provided for local major road projects in the East of England over this five year period. For Suffolk specifically the Department contributed £29.621 million towards the South Lowestoft Relief Road and £12 million towards the B1115 Stowmarket Relief Road. Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government’s formula grant. Transport for London are directly responsible for London’s strategic roads and receive financial support from the Government’s Greater London Authority Transport Grant.