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"Only long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance can allow councils to embark on the widespread improvement of our roads that is desperately needed, to the benefit of all road users up and down the country."

'Councils continue to work all day and night to support communities through the COVID-19 crisis but have faced extra cost pressures and significant income losses as a result, as this survey highlights.'

“A renewed emphasis on supporting improving public transport as part of the Levelling Up White Paper is important and councils will be seeking more clarity on what this will mean in practice and how this will be funded so they can plan for the future."

Councils have said the way the concessionary travel scheme is funded by Whitehall is unfit for purpose and prevents councils from investing in more reliable bus services.

By providing councils with new franchising powers they would be able to keep fares down, increase the number of local bus routes and make buses more attractive for everyone to use.

Councils are facing massive increases in costs due to spiralling inflation and the increase in energy costs, the Local Government Association (LGA) are warning today.

“Councils share the Government’s ambition to increase cycling and walking rates and echo the Committee’s call for councils to have greater certainty around funding to reduce carbon and other harmful emissions from transport."

“Council are leading local efforts to protect communities from coronavirus and will be central to the nation's recovery. We are pleased the Government has announced measures today to allow councils to help the country transition to the new way we will need to travel around, including to and from work."

Bus services which are vital in getting health and care staff and other key workers to the frontline during the coronavirus outbreak will struggle to survive without emergency rescue funding, the Local Government Association says today. The LGA, which represents councils, is concerned that some bus companies and services will not be able to survive the crisis, as the number of passengers has fallen sharply – in some places 75 per cent - with most people now rightly staying safe at home. It wants to work with government on an emergency funding package for buses and council-run public

“Government funding has helped keep buses on the road, allowing operators to close the gap between the costs of providing local public transport and the reduced revenues from much lower numbers of passengers than normal"