The Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) has expressed a mixed reaction to the funding announcements in today’s Budget delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The Government has announced an investment of a further £500m to fix local roads. Although it was insinuated that the focus of this money would be on fixing the blight of potholes nationally, this would still lead to improvements of local road assets overall, including road markings.
Reeves reiterated Labours’ intention to “invest in our country and grow our economy” and extra funding to repair and maintain roads will be necessary for that to happen. Roads are an overlooked asset used by every one of us, either directly or indirectly, whether commuting to work, taking children to school, socialising, keeping food on supermarket shelves or having the weekly food-shop delivered. We all rely on roads and will continue to do so well in to the future so starting to remedy the backlog of repairs is vital.
Looking at the other initiatives laid out in the budget, local transport funding is due to receive £650m whilst funding for connectivity in cities will get £1.3b. Both of these areas will get considerably more than roads and considering that most local transport options and increased connectivity require road infrastructure, road maintenance is literally going to be left in the dust.
Another critical issue thrown into the mix by the Budget is the increase in Employer National Insurance contributions, which are due to increased from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025. Although road marking companies may well see a slight increase in business as a knock-on effect from the road maintenance funding, they will need to find a considerable amount extra to cover the increased NI contributions.
Rob Shearing, RSMA CEO, said: “The Budget announced today will have a multitude of impacts on RSMA members and will have to be carefully considered. Though road markings were not mentioned, to properly repair and maintain on our roads, this will require resurfacing and refreshing of road markings.
“Whilst extra funding has been promised for road maintenance, it is unlikely to be ring-fenced and so hopefully doesn’t get spent elsewhere as Local Authorities still fight with tightening budgets elsewhere.
“We support investment in connectivity and funding for local transport, but without well maintained roads, those things will not function to their highest capacities. Hopefully, the Government will start to progress in their transport promises and further funding will be made available for roads in the future.
“Road marking companies provide safety critical infrastructure and already work on very tight margins, so hopefully a much larger NI contribution will not result in closure or forced mergers of businesses in the sector.”
