Nottinghamshire County Council leaders promise to fund road repair schemes with extra £3.3million from Local Government Finance Settlement

A council is to receive £3.3million more than expected from the Government — and has promised to invest it in the county’s roads.

On Thursday (February 6) Nottinghamshire County Council announced the additional funding, which will come from the Local Government Finance Settlement — the the annual determination of funding to local authorities approved by the Government.

It will entirely be invested into highway maintenance and repair across Nottinghamshire, something which has been identified by residents as a top priority.

Leader Sam Smith said: “Obviously I’m absolutely delighted to announce this extra £3.3million for the road maintenance programme for the upcoming year.

“It is a result of an increase in the Local Government Finance Settlement, which between the draft before Christmas and the allocation went up by £3.3million.

“We could have chosen to put it in the bank for a rainy day and allowed the money to get warm, but we think tar should go warm on the roads instead.”

The specific roads, pavements, and repair schemes to benefit this are due to be announced later this month.

Neil Clarke, cabinet member for transport and environment, added: “We are using every opportunity we can to respond to the priorities of residents.

“It will enable us to bring forward other repair schemes scheduled for next year or the next couple of years — we will be able to implement them sooner than previously scheduled.”

He further explained the council’s continued focus would be on larger scale repairs, instead of short-term fixes.

Ongoing works to drains and gullies will also continue, with previously allocated funding, to help prevent flooding and the subsequent road damage caused.