Brighton & Hove City Council has been allocated £440,000 of government funding as a reward for demonstrating best practice in highway repairs and maintenance.
Demonstrating best practice
The Department for Transport established the Highways Maintenance Incentive Fund in 2014, to reward councils who demonstrate they are delivering value for money in carrying out cost effective improvements in local highway maintenance and delivery.
Meeting the government's criteria
The system requires that local authorities are placed into three bands, with those in the lowest performing band (Band 1) losing a share of their funding. Performance is measured against the government’s criteria in the following areas:
- Asset management
- Resilience
- Customer satisfaction
- Benchmarking & Efficiency
- Operational delivery
Improving performance
Transport officers have been working to improve Brighton & Hove’s performance in all areas and the council is now in Band 3, having started at Band 1 and risen up progressively via Band 2. This means that the council is now eligible for 100% of its funding allocation.
In 2019/20, only authorities in Band 3 will receive the full share of their funding, whilst authorities in Band 2 will receive 50% of their share and Band 1 will receive 10%.
Investing in the city's roads
The £440,000 is in addition to the £108,485 of funding the council has been allocated under the government’s Pothole Action Fund. The money will be spent on:
- repairing potholes
- improving road surfaces
- ensuring the city’s roads are maintained
We'll be reporting on our website exactly how we invest the money, in accordance with government requirements.