New Network North highway maintenance funding

The Prime Minister's Network North announcement on 4 October 2023 included a commitment to an additional £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance from 2023 to 2024 and 2033 to 2034. This was over and above what local authorities were expecting to receive.

The first £150 million of this will be paid out in 2023 to 2024, in addition to the £200 million already announced at Budget 2023.

For the financial years 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025, Surrey County Council will receive an additional £2,632,000 per annum of funding from the Road Resurfacing Fund for local highways maintenance.

The total minimum additional funding that we will receive over the 11 years from 2023 to 2024 and 2033 to 2034 is £82,436,000. This funding is in addition to baseline capital funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) which for us is £20,869,000.

Additional resurfacing completed in 2023 to 2024 using the additional funding

Following the extreme weather experienced during the winter of 2022 to 2023, we began a programme of "emergency patching" works during the summer of 2023.

These works were in addition to the programme that had previously been planned and funded.

The total emergency patching programme had a value of approximately £3,000,000. The additional funding from the Road Resurfacing Fund has been used to fund the 30 schemes to the value of £2,632,000 (shown below).

Additional resurfacing scheduled in 2024 to 2025

During 2024 to 2025, we will be using the additional Road Resurfacing Fund to increase the number of resurfacing schemes carried out rather than using it for patching works.

An update of the programme at the end of Quarter 2 is shown below.

How we're introducing innovation in the delivery of highways maintenance

Surrey Highways have a strong focus on innovation in the delivery of highway maintenance. Through our Lane Rental Scheme, we have the ability to bid for funds to trial innovative processes. These have included an innovative ground stabilisation scheme carried out in 2023, for which we have been shortlisted for a Ground Engineering award.

We also have strong links with the University of Surrey, who work with our in-house Highway Materials Laboratory and our Maintenance contractor, Ringway, to develop and trial new materials and technologies. We are also embracing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and drones, to revolutionise the way we collect and analyse data on our highway network.

How we're using our streetworks and other powers so resurfacing works are not undermined by repeated digging up of the same road by utility companies

As the Highways Authority for Surrey, we work closely with utility companies who supply power, water, gas and telecoms to our communities. Regular individual meetings are held with each utility company to review their performance and discuss any issues. We also hold quarterly works coordination meetings where all future programmes are tabled and reviewed, including our own resurfacing programme.

In addition, to make full use of available legislation to protect any newly resurfaced assets, we also issue Section 58 notices (New Roads and Street Works Act'91) for all our large-scale resurfacing works at least three months before the works begin. This maximises opportunities for utility companies to bring forward any planned works for completion, before our resurfacing activities.

For more on how we work with utility companies, see our 'Frequently asked questions about utility companies and their roadworks' page.

Total investment in local highway networks for the previous 5 years and planned investment for 2024 to 2025, split between DfT and local funding

The table below shows the capital spend on roads, pavements, bridges, drainage, safety barriers, and traffic signals. 2019 to 2020 to 2021 to 2022 are actual spend figures, 2023 to 2024 are forecast spend figures and 2025 to 2026 are planned spend figures.

*Data produced on 15 March 2023 is subject to change