Roads starved of funds
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• Less than 20% of the funds raised through vehicle and fuel taxes last year was ploughed back into the UK's roads despite them being in the worst condition since records were taken.
The Government raised £32 billion in 1998—an upturn of nearly £4 billion on 1997 levels— and of that only £5.6bn was spent on improving the country's road network, says the British Road Federation. This leaves a 126bri "profit" for the Government.
Its Road Fact '99 report points out that, according to the Government's own survey, the conditions across all types of road were the worst since
national measurements were first published in the mid-1970s.
BRF director Richard Diment says: The condition of the road network in the UK is worse than ever before at a time when the Government
receives £32bn from road user taxation. It is vital that more of the revenue collected from road user taxation is channelled back into road improvements and maintenance, as the .241.9bn backlog is Increasing daily."