We asked the Department whether it considers where investment could have the greatest impact and why a factor such as traffic volume has not been included.52 The Department said that arguments for including other factors are often made, and that its last consultation on this subject was some time ago, but that this decision is one for Ministers. Reassessing funding allocation to include traffic volumes would be a large exercise which would benefit some local authorities, but reduce the funding of others, for example in rural areas.53 On taking flood risk into account, officials acknowledged they would consider whether differential impacts across the country from this risk should be reflected in any future revisions to funding allocation.54