Thursday, 01 July 2010 16:22

The coalition Government has announced a series of funding cuts to local authorities in order to tackle the country’s current financial deficit.  Some of these cuts may affect road safety delivery across Sussex along with other vital services.

The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) is funded by financial contributions from West & East Sussex County Councils, as well as from Brighton & Hove City Council.  These monies come from The Specific Road Safety Grant, which is part of the Area Based Grant (ABG), issued to local authorities by the Government.

The Government has announced reductions in the amounts of money given to local authorities under the ABG, a move which may consequently reduce the amount of money available to the SSRP.

Ken Seymour, Partnership Manager, comments:

“At this stage, we do not know what the ultimate impact of these cuts will be, and a number of high-level discussions have been taking place in the past fortnight to attempt to ameliorate any significant down-grading of road safety programmes within Sussex.

“The casualty figures in Sussex are declining year on year as a result of a combination of educational programmes, engineering intervention and enforcement interventions. 

“While some people may first associate safety cameras with the concept of road safety, SSRP  offers a much wider range of options designed to connect with anyone who uses the road – whether they are a small child, business driver, motorcyclist or cyclist. 

“Whilst being conscious of the great demands on public funds, we are keen to protect the future of all road safety delivery in Sussex, to continue to influence the downward trend in the number of people killed or injured on our roads.”

Senior partners within the SSRP will continue to meet to discuss the future funding implications for the Partnership and it is hoped that a firm resolution will be reached in August. 

Until there is more information available, the SSRP will not be offering further comment. 

ENDS

UPDATE 08/07/2010

East Sussex County Council have announced a range of budget reductions across all of their areas of business, following a Full Cabinet meeting on Monday 5 July. 

Within this announcement, it has been revealed that the Transport and Environment budget will see a reduction of £2million.  This reduction may have an impact on the work of the SSRP in the County and across Sussex as a whole, but no firm decisions have been made on this particular issue. 

Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
ENDS