Highways report secures £2.9m funding

A REPORT detailing maintenance and investment in East Sussex’s highway network has secured the county council £2.9million.

The money, which will support maintenance work including resurfacing and pothole repairs, is part of the incentive element of Department for Transport (DfT) funding which was dependent on East Sussex County Council publishing a Transparency Report.

The authority will also receive a £15.9million baseline grant and could receive another £2.9million later this year if it meets other DfT requirements including spending maintenance funding and publishing an updated policy for managing the highways network.

Cllr Peter Griffiths, the county council’s lead member for transport and environment, said: “I am pleased we have been able to meet the requirements set by the DfT to receive the maximum grant available to us, which will help us improve the standard of East Sussex roads, pavements, assets and structures.

“As well as qualifying us for the incentive element of the grant, the Highway Maintenance Transparency Report enables us to set out publicly an accurate picture of the condition of East Sussex roads, pavements, and structures, and the significant amount of work we are carrying out to keep the network running.”

He added: “It’s important to note that this is not new money.  The DfT has replaced our annual block grant and one-off pothole grant with a single payment which includes the incentive grant.

“It will, along with money from Council Tax contributions, help us fund the work needed to maintain the highway network in East Sussex, but we need to be realistic about the level of funding that would be needed to bring almost 2,000 miles of road up to a high standard.”

The Transparency Report, published on the council’s website - Transparency report | East Sussex County Council, sets out how the council is maintaining and investing in their highway networks, including work on potholes and planned maintenance.

It notes the condition of county roads, details the work being done to tackle potholes, how money is being spent, and planned work on roads, pavements, structures, drainage and streetlighting.

Ends.

Wednesday, 4 November 2026