Our local highways maintenance report
Information about the condition of our roads, how much we spend on maintenance and our planned maintenance in the future.
Highways maintenance spending figures
| Year | Capital allocated by Department for Transport (£,000s) | Capital spend (£,000s) | Revenue spend (£,000s) | Percentage spent on preventative maintenance (estimate) | Percentage spent on reactive maintenance (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (projected) | £0 | £5,350 | £2,450 | 90% | 66% |
| 2024/25 | £0 | £3,885 | £2,450 | 81% | 66% |
| 2023/24 | £0 | £4,907 | £2,443 | 91% | 66% |
| 2022/23 | £0 | £3,205 | £2,450 | 84% | 75% |
| 2021/22 | £0 | £4,857 | £2,274 | 91% | 73% |
| 2020/21 | £0 | £6,477 | £2,427 | 93% | 74% |
Additional information on spending
What is revenue spend?
The main purpose of revenue spend is day-to-day operations. It covers operational costs like salaries and offices and also day-to-day maintenance work including:
- gritting roads in winter
- emptying road gullies
- grass cutting
- traffic signals maintenance
- reactive maintenance (such as filling potholes and repairing trip hazards in footways)
What is capital spend?
The main purpose of capital spend is long-term investment in our highways and assets. Long-term investment will save us revenue spend in the future. Capital expenditure is like an investment in the highway.
For example, roads that are in poor condition might be resurfaced with capital spend. This means they are less likely to form potholes in the future. This investment will save revenue costs, because the resurfaced road will need less day-to-day maintenance. Also, traffic will flow more safely and there is less disruption due to roadworks.
Recently, using capital expenditure, we reconstructed Cox’s Walk bridge and were nominated for a national award. We also refurbished Old Kent Road bridge and Wells Way retaining wall.
How we use annual inspections to inform investment levels
We inspect the condition of our highways and assets every year. This is critical to our forward planning and selection process. The inspections tell us if and when our highways and assets might need resurfacing or replacing. If conditions are improving over time, it tells us investment levels are sufficient. If conditions are deteriorating, then investment levels are insufficient.
A Road condition has deteriorated since the COVID-19 lockdown forced Transport for London to reduce its financial support to London boroughs. Because of this, we have increased our capital investment in A Road resurfacing.
How many potholes we fill (estimate)
| Year | 2021/22 | 2022/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potholes | 1,119 | 1,815 | 1,484 | 2,037 | 2,116 |
| Cost | £30,034 | £51,039 | £50,619 | £66,900 | £66,907 |
| Percent of reactive budget spent on potholes | 1.20% | 2.80% | 2.00% | 2.30% | 1.70% |