Written question asked by Damian Green (Conservative) on Thursday, 26 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 March 2004. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Thursday, 4 March 2004 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Dept for Transport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what monitoring systems exist to ensure that funds allocated to local authorities for road improvement and maintenance schemes are not used for other purposes.

Answer: Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring systems exist to ensure that funds allocated to local authorities for road improvement and maintenance schemes are not used for other purposes. [158233] Mr. McNulty: Integrated Transport block and maintenance allocations are issued as part of the Single Capital Pot and are unringfenced to give authorities greater flexibility over how they spend their funds. Local authorities may spend the funding as they wish on the services they provide in line with local priorities and in order to deliver the targets in their local transport plans (LTP's). When we are considering future capital allocations for local authorities, one of the factors taken into account is how local authorities have spent their LTP allocations and their performance in delivering their targets. The Chief Finance Officer of each local authority is required to complete an audit form each year to confirm what LTP resources have been used in the previous financial year. These returns are audited by the Audit Commission.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 418 c1136W;418 c1152W; 158233
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Finance Monitoring Roads Repairs and maintenance Ringfenced funding
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk