Road maintenance funding
How do the council spend money on roads?
Each year councillors weigh priorities and agree two spending plans for the council. These are the revenue budget and the capital programme.
Together they provide an overview of how the council plans to spend its money. This includes money for maintaining roads.
Revenue funding
Revenue funding comes from council tax, business rates and government grants. We use this funding on:
- blocked drains
- potholes
- missing road lines
- safety defects - typically we repair 30,000 of these at a fixed cost of £1.5 million per year
Approximately £40 per household or business a year comes from council tax and business rates to use on maintaining roads.
Capital funding
Capital funding is money the council borrows from government grants to improve the road network. It can only be used for certain types of maintenance.
It can only be used to:
- replace worn-out parts, like resurfacing roads or replacing infrastructure
- restore them to new condition
This money cannot be used to fill potholes. It can be used for resurfacing to prevent potholes forming.
Recent and planned spending
The table below shows a breakdown of:
- capital funding from the Department for Transport (DfT)
- capital and revenue funding from East Sussex County Council (ESCC)
It shows actual spending for the last 5 years, and forecast spending for the next year (2024/25).
| Year | DfT capital funding | ESCC capital funding | ESCC revenue funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | £10,336,000 | £19,579,000 | £13,339,000 |
| 2020/21 | £18,046,000 | £7,792,000 | £12,653,000 |
| 2021/22 | £13,275,000 | £8,500,000 | £12,875,000 |
| 2022/23 | £13,525,000 | £16,010,000 | £13,009,000 |
| 2023/24 | £17,309,000 | £24,802,000 | £13,640,000 |
| 2024/25 (forecast) | £14,949,000 | £22,557,000 | £18,990,000 |
The table below shows:
- total amount invested in maintaining local highway networks for the last 5 years
- total planned investment for 2024/25.
The amount for 2024/25 is forecast spending.
| Year | Total DfT funding | Total ESCC funding | Total DfT and ESCC funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | £10,336,000 | £32,918,000 | £43,254,000 |
| 2020/21 | £18,046,000 | £20,445,000 | £38,491,000 |
| 2021/22 | £13,275,000 | £21,375,000 | £34,650,000 |
| 2022/23 | £13,525,000 | £29,019,000 | £42,544,000 |
| 2023/24 | £17,309,000 | £38,442,000 | £55,751,000 |
| 2024/25 (forecast) | £14,949,000 | £41,547,000 | £56,496,000 |
Additional work from government grants
Additional work was made possible in 2023/24 and 2024/25 by reallocated High Speed 2 (HS2) funding.
In 2023 the Department for Transport announced a Road Resurfacing Fund and that East Sussex County Council would receive an additional grant of:
2023/24
- £2,360,000 (Budget 2023)
- £1,674,000 (re-allocated HS2 funding)
2024/25
- £1,674,000 (re-allocated HS2 funding)
This money has been spent on the following additional carriageway resurfacing schemes.
| Road | Town | Area resurfaced in m2 |
|---|---|---|
| Downsview Crescent | Uckfield | 5,000 |
| Bartley Mill Road | Frant | 3,578 |
| Well Green Lane | Kingston | 5,478 |
| Pacific Drive | Eastbourne | 13,427 |
| Cherry Gardens Hill | Groombridge | 2,852 |
| Bunny Lane | Frant | 9,204 |
| Holliers Hill | Bexhill | 5,981 |
| The Bourne | Hastings | 6,833 |
| Road | Town | Area resurfaced in m2 |
|---|---|---|
| Diplocks Way | Hailsham | 6026 |
| Hailsham Bypass | Hailsham | 637 (Jointing) |
| High Street | Maresfield | 6137 |
| East Street | Seaford | 2264 |
| Lewes Road (A26 Bend) | Little Horsted | 6132 |
| Broom Lane | Frant | 2297 |
| The Green | Sedlescombe | 964 |
Innovation
East Sussex County Council continually seeks to improve through innovation and technology.
This includes:
- Innovation Lead coordinates innovations and assesses new technologies
- collaborating with colleges and universities for trials and new developments
- belonging to the South East Local Councils Roads Innovations Group to talk about new ideas
- participation in a Materials Forum to explore new materials
- considering drone technology for structural inspections