To ask the Minister for Infrastructure how much funding has been allocated in the Lagan Valley constituency during the current financial year for (i) road maintenance; and (ii) payments to motorists for damage caused to vehicles due to road defects.

Part (i)

My Department does not maintain records of funding by constituency, however details of budget currently allocated to capital Structural Maintenance can be provided for Eastern and Southern Divisions.

The capital Structural Maintenance budget is £99m, of which £13.5m has been allocated to Eastern Division and £28.6m to Southern Division.

Capital Structural Maintenance includes resurfacing and reconstruction, asphalt patching, surface dressing, capital investment in both drainage infrastructure and in the structural stability of embankments.

Resource expenditure on road maintenance includes carriageway and footways patching. The current resource structural maintenance budget for Eastern Division is £2.3m and £5.2m for Southern Division.

Part (ii)

I cannot respond to the member’s specific question as my Department does not allocate budgets by Assembly constituency area.

I can confirm, however, that the current budget for the 2023-2024 Financial Year for expenditure on all types of road related public liability claims across the North is £7.8m.