Lincolnshire County Councillors voted to allocate £10 million towards highway improvements, despite vocal calls for a portion of the funds to be used for children’s activities during school holidays.
Council leader Martin Hill led the motion, stating: “We are in the happy position of looking at what we’re going to do with this additional money. Highways are the major problem for us in the county.”
Coun Hill further argued that the council has consistently invested in highways over the last four years, totalling over £40 million.
“This money won’t get you many miles of total reconstruction. We want to be specific that this money should go to highways,” Hill added.
He emphasised the council’s commitment to election promises, saying: “It’s about living up to your promises. When we went into the election in 2021, the commitment to highways was a priority.”
Last year, the government cut the county’s road maintenance funds by £12 million.
Leaders previously said the 25 per cent budget reduction meant roads may not receive the required repairs, leaving thousands of potholes.
The government said the county received more than £116m to cover road maintenance between 2022 and 2025.
On the other side of the debate, Independent councillor Phil Dilks proposed an amendment to allocate £1 million of the £10 million for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
The HAF is a government funded programme providing free holiday clubs for reception to year 11 pupils in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in Lincolnshire over the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays.
“We’re just asking for £1 million of the £10 million available, leaving 90 per cent to do other things with,” said Coun Dilks.
He pointed out that the programme already benefited 3,935 children earlier this year and could extend to a further 1,200 children with special needs. However, Conservative councillor Patricia Bradwell countered: “Although we have grown our provision, an extra £1 million would not necessarily mean we could offer more spaces. One-off funding would not give sufficient time to grow that market.”
This point was emphasised by several Conservative councillors, including Alexander Maughan and Tom Smith, who mentioned that their inboxes are “littered with highways issues.”
South Holland Coun Rob Gibson said: “My inbox is 90 per cent full of highways issues.
“I’ll ask the highways team to keep South Holland in mind highlighting the public demand for road improvements.”
