As I write this week’s View from the Top, I am neither travelling nor attending an event, which is a bit of a relief since the trains have been against me recently. So, here I am, working from home, surrounded by glorious autumn colours and horses grazing in my field. It’s all very calm, rather lovely, and a welcome chance to catch up on a backlog of work. However, the raucous sounds of Budget Day are unfolding as I type. The jeers, subtle digs, and cries of “let the Chancellor speak”, signal another budget – albeit a very different one.
This year’s budget, the first from the new Government, came with a few early announcements and some speculative tax stories. But I always wait to read the details before I pass comment or form my view. It’s one of the reasons why, when I first heard the previous government’s announcement about redirecting £8 billion from HS2 into roads and the like, I held back. While many people and news outlets ran with headlines celebrating this. I found examining the detail showed a canny story and a promise that ran into another political term (and government).
I have been following budget announcements for much of my career, in roles linked to the public sector, from Local Government to charities and even politics. It was clear this budget was going to be different, reflecting the direction of a new government.
I waited with bated breath to hear infrastructure announcements. The Chancellor made a brief comment on £500 million to fix roads and potholes. While the BBC and other news outlets rapidly tried to keep up, nothing more was said, aside from a few brief commitments elsewhere.
For me, until I could see the full “Autumn Budget 2024” document from HM Treasury, I knew the statements would remain just that.
Pouring over the document, I found various references that will need to translate into policy and, more importantly, into actual council budgets.
As a side note, I am consistently surprised by some developments in devolution budgets, which sometimes result in worse outcomes for Highways Maintenance budgets in councils – but don’t get me started on that.
Delving into the detail of the HM Treasury budget, I found some interesting details related to the £500 million announcement, and I’ve provided screenshots of these, here.
Have I formed an opinion yet? Not quite – it’s still too early for me, and not enough policy detail (that’s where you find the real impacts, or not). It is just as well that I’m no longer in lobbying roles as there is always a pressure to respond with a statement.
However, one part of the budget that did catch my eye was the part about Local Government reorganisation – now that could have implications for all English Highway Authorities!
Paula Claytonsmith, CEO