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Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Is Stefan Sielaff about to jump ship from Audi to head BMW interior design?

Here at CDN we hear plenty of gossip, much of which ends up as hot air and hardly any of which we publish. But when the source of a potential story is as reliable as Georg Kacher – a giant (physically and metaphorically) of a journalist with uncannily strong connections to those within the Germany industry – there's good cause to pay attention. His 'predictions' rarely fail to materialize.

Volvo aims for global market with police-spec XC70

Volvo is staking its police-car fleet ambitions in Europe and beyond on a newly upgraded chassis underpinning the Volvo XC70, already a popular choice among police forces across Europe. The Swedish police force recently designated the 2014 Volvo XC70 D5 AWD as the best car in its fleet after carrying out exhaustive tests, with an overall score of nine out of 10. That's right, the diesel XC70 D5 AWD was chosen as the best vehicle in the police-car fleet in Sweden, even though on this side of the pond, the car is still associated more with ownership of multiple golden retrievers and the school run.