Newcastle road repair works cost tops £250m
Liberal Democrat councillor Wendy Taylor said in a meeting last week she was "fed up" with the state of the city's roads, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."I get very frustrated with the number of issues I discuss with highways officers and months later nothing has really happened," she said.The local authority said due to the lack of government funding to tackle the issue it had to prioritise the most urgent repairs.According to most recent figures, Newcastle City Council made 18,179 repairs in the 2023-24 financial year at a cost of £385,272 – compared with only 12,834 in the previous 12 months.Earlier this year the government announced £1.6bn would be handed to local authorities to fix potholes.Announcing the new funds, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told councils in March: "Get on with the job, put that money to use and prove they're delivering for their communities."But only £21.7m is coming to north-east England, less than a tenth of Newcastle's need alone.The DfT said: "This is just the start – the government will also be investing a further £24bn to upgrade motorways and local roads across the country, delivering lasting infrastructure Britain can rely on."
Follow BBC Newcastle on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
32 minutes ago
- Times
Hived raises $42m to roll out its electric delivery trucks
An ecommerce logistics firm set up by a former Manchester City women's youth team captain has raised $42 million from Japanese-backed investors to expand its all-electric fleet across southern England. Murvah Iqbal, co-founder and chief executive of Hived, said they would use the cash to begin taking their services to cities such as Bristol, Bath and Brighton from September, with the aim to then expand to Birmingham and Manchester in the second half of next year. Hived has delivered more than 6.5 million parcels across London using its 250 couriers for the likes of John Lewis, Uniqlo and Zara since its launch in 2021. It has developed its own parcel-tracking software to improve the performance of the couriers delivering the parcels to 99 per cent on-time, and says it reduces customer inquiries about the timing of deliveries and slashes the rate of claims for failed deliveries or damaged goods.
Times
32 minutes ago
- Times
Business live: UK borrowing costs in focus as Currys resumes dividend
The electrical retailer has resumed dividend payments as it posted upbeat full-year results this morning. Headline profit at Currys rose 37 per cent to £162 million in the 12 months to the end of April, from £117 million. Revenue over the period rose 3 per cent to £8.7 billion, from £8.47 billion the previous year. Like-for-like sales were up 2 per cent across the group, driven by a 4 per cent increase in the UK. The retailer announced a full-year dividend of 1.5p a share. Currys suspended dividends in 2023 as it grappled with its then-troubled Nordic business, which is now back on track. Government borrowing costs will be in focus this morning after Sir Keir Starmer rushed to back the chancellor Rachel Reeves after doubts were raised about her future following about-turns on welfare reforms that blew a hole in her budget plans. Bond yields rose sharply across the board and the pound dropped yesterday after the chancellor appeared tearful during prime minister's question time after Starmer had refused to confirm that she would stay as chancellor until the next election when questioned by Kemi Badenoch. While the rise in bond yields and the fall in the pound eased after Starmer's support for Reeves, the graphs show markets remain nervous. Economists say the chancellor will struggle to meet her fiscal rules after the £5 billion in savings from proposed welfare reforms are wiped out by this week's amendments. It raises the prospect of higher taxes and a freeze on tax thresholds.
The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Pound calm after Starmer backs Reeves, following bond sell-off
Update: Date: 2025-07-03T06:24:50.000Z Title: Introduction: Bonds and sterling in spotlight after Wednesday wobble Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. All eyes are on UK bonds, and the pound, after both fell sharply yesterday amid speculation over the future of chancellor Rachel Reeves. Wednesday was a turbulent day for the UK bond market; prices of British government debt fell heavily as investors were gripped by concerns of change at the top of the Treasury. The selloff highlights anxiety that the government's u-turn on welfare reform has blown a multi-billion pound black hole in the chancellor's budget plans. Bonds slumped, driving up borrowing costs, after Keir Starmer failed initially to give his full backing to Reeves at prime minister's questions, with a tearful chancellor alongside him. The pound also suffered, falling by a cent against the US dollar as it slid from $1.3745 to $1.3636, making it the worst-performing major currency in the world. Starmer has now defended Reeves, saying her tears were due to a 'personal matter' and insisted she will remain chancellor 'for a very long time to come'. The bond selloff may actually have reinforced Reeves's position as chancellor, highlighting that the markets would not welcome a replacement who might be less devoted to fiscal discipline. Andrew Wishart, economist at Berenberg Bank argues that 'Investors probably saved the Chancellor', saying: By selling sterling assets investors have probably kept UK chancellor Rachel Reeves in her post. Financial markets initially reacted little to the government failing to get approval for savings in the disability benefit budget from its own parliamentary faction. But when the Prime Minister failed to say that a visibly upset Reeves would remain in her job during Prime Ministers Questions, UK assets sold off. The Chancellor has become synonymous with a fiscal rule of covering day-to-day spending with tax revenue. UK selloff signals that fiscal rules are not just for show #reeves #fiscal #gilts #macro #ukeconomy #ukmacro That fiscal rule may dictate tax rises in the autumn budget, as spending cuts could be too much of a political headache, judging by the massive rebellion against the welfare bill that has created a £5bn hole in the chancellor's plans. America's economy may take the market spotlight off Reeves this afternoon, when the latest US jobs report is released. It will show whether trade war tensions have hit hiring at US businesses. 9.30am BST: UK service sector PMI for June 10am BST: OECD Economic Survey of the European Union and Euro Area 1.30pm BST: US non farm payrolls employment report for June
