Budget: Osborne unveils National Roads Fund

Grant Prior 10 years ago
Share

Chancellor George Osborne is setting-up a new £6bn National Roads Fund to pay for highways investment.

Osborne revealed in the Budget that cash raised by a revised Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system will be pumped into road spending.

Revenue from VED is currently falling as more new cars are exempt due to improving emission standards.

Osborne said that from 2017 new bands will be introduced which will see 95% of new car owners pay £140 a year.

He said: “Every single penny will go into road investment.

“We need a long term solution to fix Britain’s roads.”

CECA Chief Executive Alasdair Reisner said: “This is extremely good news for our sector because it goes a long way in ensuring a secure future for the maintenance and upgrade of the English strategic road network.

“In CECA’s 2014 publication The Infrastructure Decade we called for Government action to address the long term funding of our roads.

“Building on the completion of the roads reform process last year, long-term funding reform of the roads network is key to delivering infrastructure that is fit for the 21st century.”

James Stamp, head of transport at KPMG UK said: “In the last budget, the Government announced a major road investment program worth £15billion.

“Today, the Chancellor announced that road tax (VED) income will be ‘ring fenced’. This provides some clarity about where funding for the ambitious road projects will be found.

“However, we note that while road tax raises around £6 billion per year, this is dwarfed by income collected from fuel duty which is around £27 billion.

“We believe that more of this income should be reinvested in roads and transport infrastructure in line with the Chancellor’s statement that money raised from drivers should be spent on the roads they drive on.”

Matthew Pryor, Managing Director of road surfacing specialist Toppesfield, said: “We welcome the new Roads Fund as it clearly underlines the government’s long term commitment to radically improving the strategic road network.

“This additional investment to the £15bn already allocated by the government over the rest of the decade will have a transformational impact on the condition of our roads and support the growth of our wider economy.

“The industry has consistently called for a long term road investment plan and the Roads Fund is an important milestone to achieving this.”

Osborne also boosted business with plans to further cut Corporation Tax from 20% to 19% in 2017 and 18% by 2020.

But dividend tax rates for company shareholders will rise by 7.5%.

He also announced a new national living wage of £9 an hour by 2020.

 

 

Latest news

Galliford Try gets go-ahead for Milton Keynes PRS tower

33-storey tower needs gateway 2 approval before work can start
36 minutes ago

Breyer Group battles for survival as rivals circle

Housing maintenance firm fights three winding up petitions in a month
6 hours ago

Careys facing £2.4m claim by developer over demolition cartel

Giant Hong Kong developer claims it was overcharged on Lots Road Power Station job
6 hours ago

Lendlease Construction renamed Bovis

US private equity firm completes £35m purchase of UK contracting business and rebrands
5 hours ago

Multiplex profit drops a third as revenue rises to £780m

Spate of new orders sets contractor up for three years of work
6 hours ago

Galliford Try and Breheny land latest Sizewell C road deals

More infrastructure deals for new nuclear power station
22 hours ago

Worker trapped in collapsed septic tank pit

Contractor and director fined after worker suffers multiple fractures
7 hours ago

Homes England buys stalled Broad Marsh site

Demolition to finally be completed as developer hunt begins
18 hours ago

Vistry go-ahead for 353 homes at Rochester Riverside

Work to start on next phase of Kent town regeneration at end of this year
1 day ago

M&E firm J S Wright collapsed owing £19m

Trade creditors hit for £11.4m by employee-owned Midlands firm
1 day ago

Right to work checks to be extended to self-employed

Government plans crackdown on illegal working and rogue employers
1 day ago

Midlands developer turns to London with £1bn resi schemes trio

SevenCapital plans 1,000 flats in Kensington, Islington and the Isle of Dogs projects
1 day ago

Deck falls off huge scissor lift at Winvic site

Two men seriously injured as platform plunges to the ground
4 days ago

Weston targets Build to Rent with new division

Weston Partnerships signs first deals with asset managers and councils
1 day ago

Bouygues seals deal for £119m Cardiff college campus

Construction to start in June on two new buildings
4 days ago

£140m cash injection to speed-up flood defence schemes

Funding part of £2.65bn investment over the next two years
1 day ago

Bid race starts for £15bn schools framework refresh

DfE throws framework open to more contractors
4 days ago

Berkeley’s £600m Borough Triangle project approved

Controversial scheme features two towers of 38 and 44-storeys
5 days ago

London Mayor calls in blocked 600-bed student scheme

Refused 20-storey London PBSA block may still be built
4 days ago

HG to build 500-bed London Stratford student scheme

Work will start later this year subject to gateway 2 safety approval
5 days ago

Arrest after pedestrian death on construction site

Tragedy during site preparation works for new Wigan car park
4 days ago

British Steel threatens closure of Scunthorpe blast furnaces

Chinese owners say sectional steel and rail supplies will be maintained
5 days ago

Planning green light for Sheffield warehouse site

Existing factories to be demolished in new scheme for Rula Developments
4 days ago

New rail property company to unlock land for 40,000 homes

First four sites released in Newcastle, Cambridge, Manchester, and Nottingham
5 days ago

Drainage specialist Subscan files administration notice

Specialist employing 131 people files court notice
5 days ago

Four win Network Rail £300m engineering design deal

Eastern region deal will include design for Northern Powerhouse Rail
5 days ago

Funding go-ahead for Banwell bypass after fresh cost hike

Galliford Try contract rises £14m to £64m after final design change
6 days ago

Graham wins Southport £75m Marine Lakes Centre

Firm replaces Kier which parted ways with backer Sefton Council
6 days ago

Chancellor unveils extra £2bn capital spend a year

Construction promised a defence dividend in military base and homes upgrade work
6 days ago

McLaren confirms subcontractor team on £135m warehouse job

Work starts on TN2 Gateway site in Kent.
6 days ago

Contractor services