Traffic regulation order teams have been urged to work with their finance departments to secure a £37,000 allocation from the Department for Transport (DfT) for digital traffic regulation orders.
Paul Chandler, the DfT’s head of traffic management digital services, said in a video address to LCRIG’s Strictly Highways conference in Blackpool that the payment would be made to every authority, regardless of size.
Funding will not be ring-fenced
The one-off funding is being provided under the Government’s new burdens doctrine, following discussions with the Local Government Association. Payments to authorities outside London are expected from mid-October.
Mayoral or combined authorities will receive the money on behalf of applicable councils, while shire authorities are expected to receive it directly. London authorities will have to wait longer, according to the DfT.
Authorities should look out for a letter and respond to confirm that they are the correct recipient so payment arrangements can be completed.
Chandler said traffic order teams should contact the finance colleagues who handle Government funding and make clear that £37,000 is intended to support their work. However, he warned that the allocation would not be ring-fenced within each authority.
“Everybody gets that, regardless of large or small. It’s a one-off payment,” he said.
He added that councils would have flexibility over how the money was spent, with the DfT not requiring detailed expenditure tracking.
“If it gets spent on new orders, new software, existing software, permanent orders, it’s all the same to us,” Chandler said. “It’s just money coming into the sector, which is a fantastic result for the industry.”