£219m roads boost not enough, says Suffolk council

Why it matters: Suffolk County Council says the up to £219.4m it could receive for roads over the next four years still won’t close the long-standing funding gap facing the county’s 11,300-mile road network.

The details: Suffolk's share of the money could reach £219.4m over the four-year period, but this is dependent on the council meeting targets on transparency, performance and best practice.

• The authority is responsible for more than 11,300 miles of roads, pavements, bridges and other structures.
• The Government said the money should be used to improve the long-term condition of England's roads and deliver faster, safer and more reliable journeys.

What they're saying: Cllr Christopher Hudson, the council's lead for transport and highways, welcomed the funding but said it would not go far enough.

"This funding will help us continue investing in preventative maintenance, resurfacing programmes, drainage improvements and other works designed to deliver better long-term outcomes for residents and businesses," he said.

"However, the scale of Suffolk's highway network remains significant, and while this settlement is welcome, it does not fully close the historic funding gap faced by highway authorities and remains below the level we believe is required to maintain Suffolk's entire highway network in a steady-state condition."

The big picture: Part of the funding will support the council's own "war on potholes", which Cllr Hudson has previously said were "causing a lot of damage".

As part of that effort, the authority trialled the JCB Pothole Pro last month – equipment designed to cut, crop and clean the road, rather than using separate machines for each job. The trial has received mixed reviews from other councils, with the machine described as both "the best in the market" and as not stacking up "as an economical piece of kit".

The council is reviewing the findings on the machine's performance, productivity and value for money before deciding whether to buy it, at a cost of £200,000 each.

Cllr Hudson said: "We will continue to make every pound work as hard as possible through innovation, best practice and an asset management approach that focuses on delivering the greatest long-term benefit to Suffolk's residents, businesses and visitors."

For context: This follows a mixed few months for Suffolk's roads. In January, the council was given a red rating in the Government's new traffic-light system assessing how effectively authorities fix potholes and maintain roads, placing it among the 13 worst-performing areas in the country – though Suffolk Highways insisted the assessment contained "unfortunate inaccuracies in the data".

Ipswich MP Jack Abbott said at the time: "Suffolk County Council now has the money, so now they must finally act and fix our broken roads."

The bottom line: Suffolk could receive up to £219.4m for its roads over the next four years, but the council says it won't close the funding gap it faces – and is still weighing up whether a £200,000 pothole machine is worth the investment.

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