Less cash for pothole repairs, warns council

Derbyshire County Council said funding needed to increase each year

The councillor responsible for highways across Derbyshire has called on the government to increase its funding for pothole and road repairs.

Charlotte Cupit said Derbyshire County Council had received about £2m less in funding for the current financial year than the previous year and "consistent bad weather" was making the job harder.

The authority said it received an extra £8m from the government in 2023-24 to fix potholes but had only received a £6m top-up for 2024-25.

The Department for Transport said it was committed to tackling "the poor state of our roads".

Last year, the council received two separate pots of money - both for potholes - amounting to £8m extra on top of what it usually received from central government.

But Ms Cupit said this time around, the council had received an extra £6m.

"We should be increasing highways funding to local councils every year," she said.

She added extra problems such as the "200 landslips" in the county was "quite unique" to Derbyshire and not covered by some of the highways funding.

Councillor Charlotte Cupit is the cabinet member for highways at Derbyshire County Council

"We've had significant challenges on our roads and highways in terms of damage from horrific events of Storm Babet," she said.

"I've been really clear to the previous government and the new government we need more highways funding.

"This is coming at a time where yes, it's very welcome but we should be increasing highways funding to local councils every year - not reducing it.

"We want to do permanent repairs and resurfacing - we can only do that at certain times of the year - not in the pouring rain or snow and we are heading towards winter."

Ms Cupit added local authorities across the country "need clarity" on future pots of money.

She said the council was not clear whether it would receive £176m as part of Network North - a £36bn policy set up under former prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2022 after the cancellation of the Manchester to Birmingham leg of HS2.

The BBC understands that aside from the bonus cash for pothole repairs, the Department for Transport has matched funding on last year.

A spokesperson said: "This government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads and will fix up to one million more potholes a year.

"Decisions about future funding for local highways maintenance will be made in due course."