The UK Government has redirected HS2 funding totalling £8.3 billion over an eleven-year period from 2023/24 to 2033/34, to support the biggest-ever road resurfacing programme across England.

The Government anticipates that this will lead to a long-term, transformation in the condition of local highway authority roads for road users up and down the country and will improve journeys for all and provide long-term certainty for Local Authorities.

Additional £28.758m for Newcastle City Council over the next 11 years.

The Government expects this funding for highways authorities to be truly additional and will be shared with councils on top of the existing Department for Transport (DfT) investment for local highway networks for 2023/24 and 2024/25 previously awarded. 

The £28.758m is a minimum extra funding total for the period (2023-24 and 2033-34) and is in addition to what Local Authorities were expecting. Allocated across the 11 years, it will represent an increase of around two thirds in Department for Transport support for local roads.

It has been confirmed that Newcastle City Council have been allocated £431,000 for this financial year (2023-24) and a further £431,000 for the next financial year (2024-25) for highway maintenance works. This funding has been allocated to areas where highway improvement works are required to improve the condition of the network for highway users. 

The annual, additional funding levels for the remaining years will be profiled by the DfT in due course.

Public scrutiny and DfT reporting requirements.

The allocation of this funding will be agreed through the delegated decision process advising our cabinet member of the additional investment and which areas could be targeted to ensure the greatest impact to the road condition are achieved. 

To ensure that the funding delivers an improvement in the condition of local roads and to allow a greater degree of public scrutiny over how it is spent, the DfT is introducing new reporting requirements on local authorities.

Newcastle City Council should publish by Friday 15 March 2024, and send a copy of the weblink to the DfT, summaries of:

The additional resurfacing and other work either completed in 2023/24 or scheduled in 2024/25 using the additional funding for 2023/24, setting out the total volumes of additional work, specifying particular roads, communities, or locations that have benefited or will benefit from it.

The further additional work that will be completed during 2024/25 – again setting out both expected total volumes of additional work and where it is planned.

How Newcastle City Council is introducing innovation in the delivery of highways maintenance and where it plans to go further,

How Newcastle City Council is using its Streetworks and other powers to ensure that resurfacing works are not undermined by repeated digging up of the same road by utility companies.

The total amount of investment in local highway networks for the previous 5 years and planned investment for 2024/25, split between DfT and local funding. 

The DfT will expect Newcastle City Council to publish quarterly reports, starting in June 2024, summarising resurfacing and other highway maintenance activities, including a list of all the roads that have been resurfaced. Once a year these will need to include signed assurance from the authority’s section 151 officer that the additional funding was spent on highway maintenance activities that would not otherwise have taken place.

During 2024/25 the DfT will require Newcastle City Council to publish a long-term plan for the use of the full 11-year funding and the transformation it will deliver. The DfT will provide further advice on these long-term plans in due course, including the extent to which they should be integrated with other local plans. 

General best practice and policy

It is up to each highway authority to determine how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense). The DfT 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/footways resurfacing, and lighting columns.

Local highway authorities should also consider opportunities for localised changes to the network when undertaking maintenance, including updating road markings to bring them in line with updated requirements (TSRGD 2016) and design guidance (LTN1/20). This could also include undertaking drainage works or installing dropped crossings to enhance facilities for those with disabilities. 

Road resurfacing schemes which the additional funding will be used for. 

This financial year (2023-24) 

The below streets have been completed:

1. Lanercost Drive – 7,491m2 – Road resurfacing – Access to a number of schools. 
2. Stotts Road – 730m2 - Road reconstruction – Scheme aimed at improving journey times by increasing the condition of the road.  

Next financial year (2024-25)

The below streets are currently proposed:

1. Shields Road – Road resurfacing - Improve access to Newcastle Shopping Park (Byker). 
2. North Walbottle Road – Road resurfacing - Improve road condition to the main feed to large residential estate.
3. Byker Bridge – Road resurfacing - Improve Road condition on a primary route into city centre. 
4. Chillingham Road – Road resurfacing - South section, improve road condition within a busy retail area.
5. Brunton Lane – Road resurfacing - Improve road condition and access to Kingston Park shopping area. 

How Innovation is used 

Construction works undertaken by Transport will encourage and utilise the use of innovative environmentally friendly and recycled and reclaimed materials where feasible with designs including the use within carriageway and footway resurfacing operations. 

Since the implementation of the current 2021 to 2024 term contract our resurfacing contractor has committed to a 22% carbon saving through their Recycle Asphalt Pavement (RAP) 2023/2024 which includes incorporating the use of “single use plastics” such as plastic bottles, which would otherwise go to landfill. 

This in turn improves the operational performance of the surfacing materials which subsequently extends the lifecycle by reducing wear, thereby reducing carbon emission generated during reduced construction operations and reducing landfill waste material as a whole with up to 2kg of single use plastic used in every ton of material produced. 

Other commitments by our resurfacing contractors which is a requirement of the resurfacing term contract, include the use of local production plants, the use of natural eco diesel conditioner in their fleet of vehicles, and partnering with asphalt organizations to develop new asphalt additives to help reduce carbon footprints for themselves and the city council when undertaking works within the highway. 

Co-ordination with utility companies 

Newcastle City Council hold quarterly Coordination Meetings with representatives from the utility contractors which helps us to fulfil our Statutory Duty under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. This allows us to present to them our current programme of works along with our future works programme which means that they can bring forward any schemes that they have planned for where we are going to carry out resurfacing works. If it is not possible for them to bring their works forward, we would look to delay our works until after the utility companies had completed their works. These meetings are also used to encourage collaboration between contractors and combine their works where possible, therefore reducing disruption to the public.

We hold more frequent progress meetings on a monthly, fortnightly and weekly basis when dealing with problematic or complicated schemes in order to resolve any issues at an early stage. Therefore, reducing the chances of the need for contractors to carry out return visits after the road has been resurfaced. 

The table below shows the total amount of investment in our local highway network for the previous 5 years and planned investment for 2024/25, split between DfT and local funding.