6. Mr McNulty asked the Minister for Infrastructure to outline how much has been spent by her Department on compensation for damage to vehicles as a result of road surface defects, since February 2024. (AQO 1905/22-27)

My Department maintains its financial records by financial year on the NICS accounting system, Account NI. Given the time of year, the figures that are available in relation to claim numbers and expenditure on vehicle damage compensation due to road surface defects since February 2024 may be subject to change. This is because the normal end-of-year financial adjustments on the Account NI system and data management exercises on my Department’s claims management system have yet to be finalised. I can confirm, from the data currently available, that the expenditure on vehicle damage compensation claims due to road surface defects from 1 February 2024 to 31 March 2025 was approximately £1·4 million. That figure includes compensation payments along with payment of vehicle damage loss assessor fees, departmental legal costs and claimants’ legal costs.

The Member should be aware that claims that are received in a financial year are not always concluded in the same financial year. Therefore, the expenditure figures for a given financial year will usually include spend on claims that were received in prior years. In addition, although my Department has a statutory duty under article 8 of the Roads Order 1993 to maintain public roads, there is no automatic entitlement to compensation. My Department investigates and defends public liability claims, with every case turning on its own facts. In cases where officials believe that the Department can raise a legal defence, claims will be repudiated.

I thank the Minister for her answer. Does she intend to review the current penny wise, pound foolish approach to pothole repair policy in order to ensure that her Department is delivering long-term value for money and improved road safety and to allow for the more practical and efficient use of maintenance staff who are under-resourced and worked to the pin of their collars?

I have said in the Chamber before that officials are currently working on a new road maintenance strategy for all the reasons outlined. We have staffing shortages across the Department as well as a lack of investment in the Department for Infrastructure. His former colleague, who previously served as Infrastructure Minister, would agree that that was the case during her time in office. This is something that we have been dealing with for many years. It will be important to look at how we can do things differently and how we can deliver higher-quality repairs instead of what we have had to do for many years, spreading resources too thinly. It is important that, where we intervene, we ensure that we have a safer and more reliable road network.

Will the Minister outline what her Department is doing to use technology to improve road maintenance?

As part of the new strategy that we are currently working on — I will be considering it in detail in the coming weeks — we want to focus on higher-quality repairs that will be more sustainable. That will involve the use of modern technology to direct our investments where they are needed most, ensuring smarter maintenance decisions but also future-proofing our roads to meet society's changing needs, including active travel, reducing the carbon footprint of our operations and ensuring that the network is resilient after adverse weather events.

In 2019-2020, your Department paid out over £35,000 for vehicle damage claims in its Ards and North Down section office area. In 2023-24, that amount rose to an eye-watering £122,000. Will you take action to ensure that the Ards and North Down area receives a fair funding allocation for proper roads maintenance going forward?

We discussed the situation in Ards and North Down in a recent Adjournment debate. Funding is allocated to each division using a very technical methodology, and we talked about that at length in that debate. As I said in my previous answers, there is no doubt that we do not have enough money to do all the work that is required and to deliver what is needed across our road network. That is why we are trying to do as much as we can with the budget that is available and to be smarter with it. All road users, whether they are motorists, cyclists or pedestrians, should have access to safe, good-quality roads. That work is ongoing as part of the strategy that is being developed, and I hope to see that being implemented fairly soon.