Local highway authorities in England are projecting £4.9bn of road maintenance expenditure in 2026/27, with nearly 7,000 miles of carriageway expected to receive structural or preventative treatment during the financial year.
The figures, published by the Department for Transport on 21 October, show projected maintenance spending rising from £4.1bn in 2024/25 and £4.4bn in 2025/26. Around 2,000 miles of carriageway are due to receive planned structural maintenance during 2026/27, while close to 5,000 miles are expected to receive preventative treatments.
Alongside the data, the Government has released a further £220m of incentive-based funding to councils that have met performance requirements. That sits within a wider four-year £7.344bn highways maintenance capital allocation running from 2026/27 to 2029/30.
Excavation and highway works beside live traffic on Woolwich Road in south-east London, illustrating the type of local road and infrastructure activity supported by England's growing maintenance programme. Photo: London Construction Magazine.
Nearly 7,000 Miles of Planned Maintenance
The Department for Transport's 2026 highways maintenance transparency data aggregates reports submitted by local highway authorities across England. The programme covers the local road network rather than the strategic road network operated by National Highways.
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 projected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total highways maintenance spend | £4.1bn | £4.4bn | £4.9bn |
| Structural maintenance | — | — | Nearly 2,000 miles |
| Preventative maintenance | — | — | Nearly 5,000 miles |
The £4.9bn figure is projected total expenditure reported by councils and should not be confused with the Department for Transport's annual capital grant. For 2026/27, the highways maintenance block provides £1.617bn of baseline and incentive funding, including a £525m incentive allocation. Councils can also fund maintenance from other local and transport budgets, which is why total reported expenditure is substantially higher than the central government grant.
Preventative Work Takes a Larger Share
The data also points to a shift away from relying solely on reactive pothole repairs. Ninety-four per cent of authorities project that they will carry out preventative maintenance during 2026/27, compared with 76% in the previous year.
That creates workload across a broader range of highway treatments, including resurfacing, surface dressing, microsurfacing, recycling, localised reconstruction, drainage and associated asset works. The maintenance funding formula itself also covers bridges and lighting columns alongside A roads, B and C roads and unclassified roads.
Preventative programmes can also give contractors and suppliers greater visibility than repeated emergency repairs because authorities are being encouraged to plan maintenance on a whole-life asset basis. The Government's four-year funding settlement increases from £1.617bn in 2026/27 to £2.134bn in 2029/30, with £2.12bn of the total four-year allocation classified as incentive funding.
£220m Released Against Performance Requirements
The latest £220m release forms part of the performance-linked approach. Councils must demonstrate compliance with highways maintenance requirements, including transparency reporting, use of capital funding for maintenance and adoption of preventative asset-management practices.
Further incentive funding can be withheld where authorities do not meet the required standards. At least 25% of annual incentive funding during the four-year period is dependent on publication of transparency reports, while the Department for Transport has said additional performance metrics may be introduced in later years.
The published 2026 transparency dataset is still provisional. It draws on reports from 152 of 153 local highway authorities and excludes Birmingham, which had not published its report, as well as Transport for London data while discussions with TfL continue. DfT plans to publish final disaggregated information alongside local road maintenance ratings in early 2027.
Road Condition Data Shows the Scale of the Backlog
Separate official road-condition statistics published on 14 October show that 4% of local A roads, 6% of B and C roads and 16% of unclassified roads were in the category where maintenance should have been considered in the year to March 2026.
Around 10,000km of local road received maintenance during that period, up 6.5% from approximately 9,400km a year earlier. Preservation treatments remained the most frequently used approach, reflecting the move towards extending pavement life before more expensive reconstruction becomes necessary.
From 2026/27, authorities are also moving to the PAS 2161 road-condition monitoring standard, which introduces five condition categories in place of the existing red, amber and green system. DfT expects the transition to be completed for reporting in the financial year ending March 2028.
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