Long term planning needs long term funding
- robball6
- Jun 4
- 3 min read
On 11 June, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her Spending Review statement in Parliament. Cue a flurry of statements, letters and briefings about who should get what funding.
Organisations from our sector are doing their bit. A policy briefing published by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) on the 3rd June underlined a message which the industry has been trying to get across to the Government for years: longer-term funding settlements for local roads in England would yield multiple benefits.
The Government certainly expects local authorities to take a longer-term view. In a letter addressed to local authority chief executives in March, the Department for Transport (DfT) asked for a whole raft of information, saying that it would “help enable DfT to have a clearer sense of how the funding is being used, the degree to which additional funding is being allocated to highways maintenance and the extent to which authorities are following asset management best practice.”
Here’s the information demanded by the letter:
· spending on highway maintenance - capital-funded and revenue-funded - and how it compares to the previous 5 years
· the overall state of their network and how this has changed in recent years
· number of potholes filled in each of the last 5 years
· plans for 2025 to 2026 including resurfacing
· balance between preventative and reactive maintenance in their plans
· how the authority is minimising disruption caused by utility companies’ streetworks
· action to make networks more resilient to the changing climate
· how they are following best practice and delivering innovation and efficiency
However, the deadline for every council to submit the information is 30 June – after the Spending Review.
Perhaps the DfT can explain to the Chancellor that ‘asset management best practice’ requires an investment period that is longer than a year. That’s why National Highways works in five-year Road Investment Periods for the strategic road network (although it is currently working with a one-year interim financial settlement until April 2026).
Ringfencing preservation funds
The Road Emulsion Association (REA) has suggestions for the Chancellor too, writing an open letter which asks that the Government provide two separate streams of funding for road maintenance: one for preventative works such as surface treatments that prolong the life of the road and one to tackle the backlog of damage and deterioration.
In the letter dated 30 May 2025, REA chair Mark Stott says: “This would enable local authorities to plan ahead rather than having to use all the existing funds for reactive maintenance (pothole filling).”
The REA is also calling for the DfT to produce a performance guide for local authorities which sets out expectations and best practice for preventative treatment, which could also provide guidance on road repairs including potholes. And the Association wants to add to local authorities’ reporting requirements by asking them to say how many miles of local roads require preventative maintenance in the next five years.
From our experience working with local authorities around the UK, we know that there are many who already demonstrate best practice in the management of road maintenance and repair, despite the constraints they are working under. We also know that the industry needs to keep explaining these things to our politicians.
Given the problems that poorly maintained roads cause – including outrage from the voters who use them – let’s hope that Reeves listens to CIHT, REA and other voices from the industry.
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