Plans for a reduction of at least £20 million for highways maintenance in the county over the next four years were voted through today (Friday, March 27) at a meeting of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, expressed his grave concerns over the impact that the decision will have on maintaining thousands of kilometres of roads in North Yorkshire, which is England’s largest county.
A total of £4 million in funds which would have come to North Yorkshire Council from the Department for Transport will now be redirected to City of York Council.
The proposals for the financial reduction were drawn up by the mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, with changes in the allocation of funding between North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council.
Cllr Les and Cllr Dadd, whose responsibilities include North Yorkshire Council’s finances, both voted against the proposals at today’s meeting at County Hall in Northallerton.
However, the mayor and two councillors from City of York Council, who are also members of the combined authority, all voted to approve the plans for changes in funding allocations.
Cllr Les, who is a member of the combined authority, said:
The Government announced additional funding to tackle highways maintenance, which we do welcome.
However, had that money come directly to us like it used to for many years before it came through the mayor’s office, we would be at least £20 million better off.
To be clear, this is a decision made locally that will mean we have less money to maintain our roads. We had asked the mayor to reconsider the plans, and it is extremely disappointing that the proposals have now been voted through.
There are no guarantees beyond the next financial year, and the allocations could change again to make the situation even worse. The approach actually risks a worsening rating for our highways from the Department for Transport, which could lead to a further reduction in funding.
There will now have to be some tough choices on where we can undertake maintenance and any hopes that we could be more ambitious will have to be curbed.
North Yorkshire Council is set to receive £63.8 million for highways maintenance in 2026/27, which will be an increase from £57.8 million in the current financial year.
However, due to the changes, North Yorkshire Council will see a reduction for highways maintenance of at least £20 million as funding is due to reduce over the following three financial years compared to what would have been received directly from the Department for Transport.
North Yorkshire Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, who is also a member of the combined authority, said:
To be faced with this multi-million pound reduction in funding will lead to significant consequences for our ability to maintain roads in North Yorkshire.
When inflation is taken into account, the cut in funding will be even higher.
To bring that impact into focus, £1 million alone would deliver four kilometres of highways resurfacing and reconstruction which would help to deal with longstanding issues.
The same amount of funding would also strengthen 10 bridge arches, allow for the resurfacing of 14 kilometres of footpaths or deliver five schemes to deal with landslips.
It is so disappointing that our case was not listened to, and this decision was taken despite our opposition in the strongest terms to the changes in how funding is allocated.
North Yorkshire’s roads network spans more than 9,200 kilometres, of which 8,600 kilometres is surfaced with the remainder being classed as unsurfaced and unclassified routes.
The county’s surfaced roads network is the sixth largest in England. By comparison, the roads network covered by City of York Council stretches for 790 kilometres.
According to figures from 2024/25, North Yorkshire Council is dealing with 887 kilometres of unclassified roads which are classed as in the most urgent need of repairs – longer than the entire length of York’s highways network.
