To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether current resourcing within the Roads and Rivers Centre of Procurement Expertise is sufficient to deliver upon recommendations contained within (i) the Independent Review into the Funding Requirements for Structural Maintenance of the Northern Ireland road network by Jim Barton; and (ii) the Structural Maintenance of the Road Network Report by the NI Audit Office of March 2019.

It is abundantly clear that we need to increase the level of investment in structural maintenance of our transport infrastructure – pavements, roads, cycle paths and public transport - and I have been consistent in making that point. For roads maintenance, the recommendations contained within the Barton Report and the NIAO Report broadly confirmed the need for much higher levels of investment with £143m per annum (based on 2018 prices) being identified as the minimum amount that we should be spending on structural maintenance activities such as resurfacing, surface dressing and structural drainage. It is also clear that not spending at this level can often represent poor value for money as repairs and settling claims inevitably cost more in the long term.

However, budgetary constraints mean that we cannot do all that I or Members or the public might like. Our ability to increase the level of structural maintenance, not just on roads but across our transport network, and our capacity to deliver it is directly linked to the level of resources made available to my Department.