Traffic regulation order teams are being urged to speak to their finance departments to secure their allocation of new Government funding, with the Department for Transport confirming that the money will not be ring-fenced.
In a video address played to LCRIG’s Strictly Highways conference in Blackpool, the DfT’s Head of Traffic Management Digital Services, Paul Chandler explained how authorities will receive the £37,000 payment to support delivery of digital traffic regulation orders (D-TROs).
As previously reported by Highways News, the funding will provide the same amount to each authority, regardless of size, with payments outside London expected from mid-October.
Mr Chandler said the allocation followed discussions with the Local Government Association under the Government’s new burdens doctrine, which provides funding to meet costs imposed on authorities by new legislation.
“Everybody gets that, regardless of large or small. It’s a one-off payment,” he said.
He explained that payments would go through mayoral or combined authorities where applicable, while shire authorities would receive the money directly. London authorities would face a longer timescale.
Authorities should look out for a letter and respond to confirm that they are the correct recipient, allowing payment arrangements to be completed.
Mr Chandler urged those responsible for D-TRO delivery to contact the finance colleagues who receive Government funding and make clear that £37,000 of the allocation is intended to support their work.
He explained that the funding is not ring-fenced, meaning teams need to claim it within their organisation. However, authorities will have flexibility over how they use it, with no detailed tracking of expenditure by DfT.
“If it gets spent on new orders, new software, existing software, permanent orders, it’s all the same to us,” he said. “It’s just money coming into the sector, which is a fantastic result for the industry.”
The message reinforces advice in Highways News’s earlier report from AppyWay, which encouraged traffic order teams to speak to their heads of service and budget holders before payments arrive.
(Picture – DfT)
