Decision details

Top Up Highway Maintenance and Pothole Repair Fund 2023/24 Expenditure.

Authority is delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment to approve how Dorset Council spends the £2.914M Top Up Highway Maintenance and Pothole Repair Fund allocation from DfT.

The Portfolio Holder has decided to put most of this additional funding (£2.714M) into maintenance of the carriageway with £200,000 being allocated as match funding for capital bids.

In awarding this funding to councils, DfT states that: 

“DfT strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes. This considers all parts of the highway network, such as bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns – and not just the fixing of potholes.

It is up to the respective highway authority how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980.” 

The top priority for the Portfolio Holder is for most of these funds to be invested into carriageway pothole prevention and repairs, to include patching and resurfacing of sites that have deteriorated or failed over the Winter.  The remaining funds can be used to support future capital bids for other highway asset maintenance funds.

Reasons rejected:

Option 1: 

That £448,000 (15.38%) of the additional Highway Maintenance and Pothole Repair Fund be used to top up the bridge maintenance budget. The remaining £2.466million of this funding will be invested into carriageway pothole prevention and repairs (patching and surfacing). 

Option 2: 

That the full £2.914million additional funding be invested into carriageway pothole prevention and repairs, to include patching and resurfacing of new sites that have deteriorated or failed through the course of the winter. 

Option 3: 

That an alternative percentage split of the additional funding across other highways asset groups is made.