Road spend cut to meet cost of teacher pay rise

The Government's decision last week not to give local authorities extra money to cover pay awards to teachers and the police will cost the construction industry more than œ100 million in lost work.

Councils are set to slash spending on road and building maintenance by 5%-7% to fund the pay awards because cuts in these areas are the least politically damaging. Most councils are involved in elections this year.

The cuts will be yet another blow to small and medium sized contractors who two weeks ago were told by councils the full implications to building work of the Government's œ1.5 billion cut in the revenue support grant.

County Surveyor's Society president Mike Kendrick said: 'Although there has been much public outcry at the education cuts, the knock-on effect on road maintenance will be much greater and this has passed by virtually unnoticed.'

Kendrick added: 'Councils only have so much money to go around and it is much harder to cut socially driven education and social service budgets than items like road and building maintenance.'

His own council - Northampton - is to cut its highways budget by 5% which he expects to be repeated across the board.

In addition, the council has a œ15 million back-log of building maintenance work and this is growing.

Other councils have fared just as badly.

Derbyshire is proposing a 7% reduction in its œ22.5 million road maintenance budget following the teacher's pay announcement and has a staggering œ100 million back-log on its building maintenance work. It has had to close a series of temporary classrooms and the Cherry Tree School in Derby city centre because they have become dangerous.

And Lancashire has already been forced to cut œ4.4 million from its œ15.5 million special road maintenance budget and œ7 million from a building maintenance budget of œ29 million.

Even councils which anticipated paying a teacher's pay rise in setting their budgets have not escaped unscathed. West Sussex CC took the rise into account but could only balance its books by freezing road maintenance spending and slashing 25% from its major building works budget.

FCEC spokesman Jim Turner said: 'The effect of the squeeze on local authority spending on the construction industry has been seriously underestimated. If there is a squeeze on local authorities then it doesn't matter what its meant to squeeze, it's us that feel the pinch. There should have been a pick up in tender invitations but it hasn't happened because of this.'