Sue Percy CBE, Chief Executive, CIHT said:

"We congratulate Rachel Reeves on delivering the first Labour Party Budget in almost 15 years. Like many sectors, those of us engaged in highways and transportation were expecting difficult decisions to be made and the tone of the government has been that this would be delivered in an economically challenging environment."

“As we had called for in our manifesto, we were pleased to see alignment on some of our key asks particularly around the importance of the local highways network and commitments to deliver on a number of integrated transport projects to improve connectivity."

CIHT will be providing a more detailed analysis in the coming days but some of the highlights we welcome include:

• The changes to fiscal rules and the commitment to public investment in new infrastructure should help create the environment for a more long-term approach to infrastructure investment.

• Acknowledgement of the importance of local roads and the providing a nearly 50% increase in funding for local roads highway maintenance, an increase of nearly £500m in 2024-25.
  Support for a number of significant local transport schemes.

• An indication to improve uncertainty by funding through an interim roads settlement, and the third Road Investment Strategy will be set out in the next phase of the Spending Review

• Providing £200 million for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and an £100 million investment in cycling and walking infrastructure in 2025-26.

• Funding for 300 additional planners to improve local planning authority capacity.

For more information on the Autumn Budget 2024, please contact CIHT Public Affairs Manager Liberty Hibberd e: liberty.hibberd@ciht.org.uk  

The full financial statement is available to read here.  

CIHT looks forward to engaging with the government to ensure that our transport network can better meet the needs of our economy, society and environment.