FOI Request - Highways Maintenance Funding

Request 101003848793

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding highways maintenance funding.

1. I would like information on the size of the Council's Total Roads Maintenance backlog.
a) The council’s current estimate of the total Roads Maintenance backlog (in £ millions).  (This should represent the total cost of outstanding maintenance required to bring the entire road network up to a good condition - including carriageways, footways, drainage, bridges and structures, street lighting, and any other assets considered part of roads maintenance).
b) The council’s current estimate for just the total carriageway maintenance backlog (in £ millions). (This should represent the cost of outstanding maintenance required to bring the road surfaces themselves  (i.e. the carriageways) up to a good condition.)

2. For each of the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25 (to date), please provide the following:
a) The total amount of funding received by the council from central government specifically for highways and road maintenance (including pothole repairs, resurfacing, and related highway maintenance)
b) The total amount allocated by the council from its own local funding sources (e.g. council tax, business rates, reserves) toward road maintenance.
c) The total actual spend on road maintenance (carriageway and other highway-related infrastructure).
d) Of the total funding available for highways (from both central and local sources), please confirm:
i) Whether any central government funding for highways was used to support other services not directly related to highways or road maintenance.
ii) Whether any locally sourced funding originally intended or previously allocated for highways was reallocated to non-highway services.
e) If either central government or local funding was reallocated away from highways maintenance, please provide:
i) The amount of central government funding for highways and road maintenance (if any) that was used for non-highway purposes
ii) The amount of local funding that was re-allocated from highways to other services.
iii) A breakdown of the departments or services to which the funding (whether central of local) was reallocated, including the amounts allocated to each service or department, where possible.

Response 25-09-2025

1.a) For the carriageway backlog, the Council has a nationally published figure from SCOTS, last calculated in 2023.  For the other area, estimates are provided based upon our reserve list of works as at April 2025.

Carriageway – £46.469m
Footway – £9.415m
Drainage & Other Assets – £10.732m
Street Lighting - £9,339m
Bridges & Structures - £73.918m

b) The carriageway backlog figure, as per Q1a above was £46.469m