Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 31
2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England
Published 17 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We asked the Department whether it had completed any evaluations on the benefits that come from long-term funding arrangements such as Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes.67 The Department responded that the general view on transport funding was that longer-term funding of assets and infrastructure provided greater certainty and allowed delivery partners to plan, resource and execute work efficiently. However, the Department confirmed that it had not undertaken any evaluations itself, although it does collect data on PFI schemes as part of HM Treasury reporting requirements.68 The Department informed us that as the schemes were ongoing, evaluations had not been conducted despite these contracts not expected to end until 2034.69 It is imperative that whoever is managing the PFI project, normally the Local Authority or Highways England, regularly inspects theses roads to ensure the maintenance is up to date and that they will be returned in the condition specified in the contract. 62 Q 67 63 Q 56 64 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 65 C&AG’s Report, paras 12, 2.11 66 Q 56 67 Q 48 68 Q 49; Written evidence submitted by the Department for Transport dated 5 December 2024, ‘Local roads in England – Follow up on Private Finance Initiatives’ 69 Qq 50-51; C&AG’s Report, Figure 3 Note 4 17 3 Support for local authorities Updating guidance
From: Public Accounts Committee, 2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England (HC 349), 17 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations, disagrees with the recommendation to revise the funding allocation method (while agreeing to review the funding formula), and gives target implementation dates for each agreed item.
- On funding allocation, the government disagrees with the recommendation but "agrees to review the funding formula"; it "cannot commit to any changes" until options are assessed for feasibility and deliverability, and the earliest any change could take effect is the start of financial year 2026-27.
- On funding certainty, the government agrees and "intends to move to multi-year funding settlements in future", and the department "intends to consolidate" local highways maintenance funding streams so authorities receive one funding line only.
- On data and responsibilities, the government agrees; the department will publish a short Gov.UK document summarising legal responsibilities (target April 2026), and has begun engagement on making reporting against PAS 2161 "a mandatory requirement in England".
- On the Code of Practice, the government agrees it should be refreshed (target September 2026) and will "consider further whether, and if so how" authorities might be required to follow best practice to qualify for funding; it says linking this to the incentive element directly is not "feasible".