Purpose

Cabinet approved the 2024/25 Highway Block of the Capital Programme in March 2024 which included the indicative Department for Transport highway maintenance grant funding of £28.811m and £3.661m additional funds for 2024/25 announced by the Government in October 2023 as part of the Network North fund.

It is proposed to  add  an additional £5m to be spent on priority areas, as described below. The funding is being made available through the application of capital receipts which have been achieved at higher levels than factored into the capital programme and revenue budget under the existing flexibilities.

This is deemed to be a Key Decision and the provisions of Standing Order C20 have been complied with. Compliance with Standing Orders C18 and C19 was not possible due to the additional funds and priority areas only now being confirmed.

Decision

The Cabinet approved the recommendation(s) as set out in the report.

This decision should be implemented immediately for the purposes of Standing Order C28 as any delay could adversely affect the execution of the county council's responsibilities.  The reason for this is to ensure work starts immediately in May to ensure priority areas are addressed.