BLAENAU GWENT council is set to receive Welsh Government funding worth £2.2 million over two years to invest in the county borough’s roads, councillors have been told.

But the council will be expected to find its own money to match the government funding.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Place scrutiny committee on Tuesday. councillors were told of the funding allocation during discussion of the Regeneration and Community Services Performance Report for 2024/2025.

The council annual road maintenance budget is around £2.7 million but calls have been made for more to be spent on the repairing roads by councillors across the political spectrum.

The report explained that the highways capital budget line “no longer exists” in the annual capital programme as a “standard line”and that investment in the road system can only take place when funding is found and is “agreed” by councillors.

Earlier this year opposition leader Cllr Wayne Hodgins (Independent) had advocated putting £551, 000 that the council had made on its investments towards road repairs.

Head of community services Clive Rogers said: “The highway infrastructure was valued at £1.4 billion, and the level of investment was disproportionate to the value of the asset.

“But that is a challenge that most highway authorities have got.

“The good news is that Welsh Government has asked for bids for another tranche of the local government borrowing initiative.

“We put in a bid, and we were successful to the tune of just over £2.2 million over the next two years.

“That needs to be potentially augmented by Blaenau Gwent supporting that – that decision will come at a later date when members can look at potential expenditure for the capital programme.

“In due course a report with more detail will come to scrutiny of our plans around that expenditure for members to support or otherwise.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Ross Leadbeater (Labour) said: “That’s excellent news, you have put a smile on a few of our faces.

“This is something we’re very much on the same page with.”

The committee went on and agreed the report and their recommendation will be added to the document before it goes before senior councillors at a future Cabinet meeting.

In March, the Welsh Government announced that councils will soon be able to access up to £120m to repair more local roads over the next two years, under new plans set out in the Welsh Government’s Final Budget 2025-26.

The new local government borrowing initiative will provide an extra £10 million of revenue funding to local councils to enable them to unlock an additional £120 million of capital funding to accelerate the process of fixing our local roads and pavements.

The scheme will be designed in close partnership with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).