Local highways maintenance transparency report

The Department for Transport expects all local highways authorities to publish information about their highways maintenance activities to help local taxpayers see the difference that funding is making in their areas.

Our highway network

Staffordshire County Council manages and maintains a 6,000 km highway network. The network is large and complex, made up of many connected parts that require careful coordination and planning.

The network’s composition by length is detailed in table 1 below.

Table 1: Length of highway in kms.

In addition to its extensive road network, Staffordshire County Council is responsible for the management of over 1,200 highway structures, including road bridges, footbridges, culverts, underpasses, and retaining walls. The Council also maintains approximately 180,000 drainage assets, 108,000 street lighting columns and illuminated signs, and a wide range of other highway features. These include road markings, traffic signals, reservoirs, street furniture, safety barriers, trees, highway verges, and more, each playing a vital role in the safety, functionality, and appearance of the county’s transport infrastructure.

Table 2: Summary of key asset numbers.

Highways maintenance spending figures

Table 3: Highway maintenance spend by type and year.

Additional information on spending

Staffordshire County Council is committed to a comprehensive, evidence-led approach to highway maintenance ensuring the long-term safety, performance, and resilience of the network. Our investment covers a wide range of interconnected activities, from structural renewals and preventative treatments to reactive and emergency repairs. We follow a ‘prevention is better than cure’ philosophy, using asset data, condition surveys, and life cycle planning to support early, cost-effective interventions. Highway maintenance is typically delivered through four key categories:

• Reactive maintenance addresses unplanned issues that require immediate attention, such as pothole repairs, emergency responses to flooding or fallen trees, and the resolution of safety-critical defects.
• Cyclical maintenance refers to routine, scheduled activities carried out at regular intervals to maintain asset condition and functionality. Examples include gully cleaning, grass cutting, and the inspection and servicing of traffic signals and street lighting.
• Preventative maintenance involves planned interventions aimed at extending asset life and avoiding more costly repairs in the future. This includes surface dressing, patching, and treatments to prevent water ingress or cracking.
• Structural maintenance is often where assets are nearing or have reached the end of their serviceable life. This includes resurfacing, reconstruction, and strengthening to address issues that cannot be managed through routine or preventative maintenance.

Together, these approaches ensure the safety, reliability, and longevity of Staffordshire’s highway network.

As part of its reactive maintenance programme, Staffordshire County Council continues to prioritise the timely repair of potholes to maintain road safety and usability. Between 2021 and 2025, over 30,000 potholes have been repaired each year, reflecting a sustained commitment to responsive service delivery. This also supports the Council’s preventative strategy through preparatory works such as pre-surface dressing patching. The figures demonstrating this consistent level of activity are shown in the table 4 below.

The focus has shifted from simply addressing high volumes to delivering more durable, long-lasting repairs. Rather than chasing numbers, the Council has adopted a ‘right first time’ approach, targeting larger areas and carrying out higher-quality repairs wherever possible. The approach is improving efficiency, reducing long-term costs, and enhancing the overall condition of the network.

Estimate of number of potholes filled

Table 4: Number of potholes filled by year.

For more details about our highway maintenance programmes please visit our Highways programmes page

Condition of local roads

Staffordshire’s road network is surveyed annually using Vaisala RoadAI. This approach uses high-definition video and Artificial Intelligence driven analysis to assess surface condition and identify defects, providing consistent and comprehensive data across all road types. 

Road condition is currently categorised into three bands:

• Green – No further investigation or maintenance required
• Amber – Maintenance may be required soon
• Red – Should be considered for maintenance

The amber network highlights roads showing early signs of deterioration and is used to inform preventative maintenance strategies, helping to extend asset life, maintain service levels, and reduce long-term costs.

A breakdown of the condition of the county’s roads, categorised by road classification and year, can be found in Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8 below.

Table 5: Condition of A Roads

Table 6: Condition of B Roads

Table 7: Condition of C Roads

Surveys are carried out across 100% of the B & C road network annually.

Table 8: Condition of Unclassified Roads

Surveys have been carried out across 100% of the unclassified road network annually since 2024. Prior to this condition data was collected using a different survey technique on a frequency up to every 6 years, which explains the step change in results in 2024.

From 2026/27 Local Highway Authorities will be required to use suppliers accredited against BSI PAS 2161. Our existing supplier already meets this standard, ensuring a smooth transition. The new approach will classify roads into five categories instead of three, enabling the government to gain a more detailed understanding of road conditions across England.

Additional information on condition

While the overall condition of Staffordshire’s road bridges and footbridges are currently rated as ‘good’, there is growing pressure on the asset base due to ageing infrastructure and limited capital investment. Critical load-bearing elements are now rated only as ‘fair’, and without timely intervention, further deterioration is expected.

Replacing large structures is a long-term process that involves years of investigation, design, and delivery. However, with the cost of replacing a single bridge estimated at £25–30 million, it is not feasible to fund such projects solely through the Council’s annual maintenance grants, unless all resources were diverted to a single asset, leaving little capacity for other planned works, such as carriageway maintenance. The lack of certainty around future funding and application processes further hampers the ability to deliver these schemes efficiently.

Plans

Overall strategy

Staffordshire County Council is committed to a strategic, risk-based approach to highway asset management ensuring the long-term sustainability, safety, and performance of the county’s road network. This approach aligns with national guidance and best practice.

The strategy integrates both planned and reactive maintenance, underpinned by lifecycle planning and a risk-based asset management framework. Approximately 260km of carriageway surfacing will be treated through the delivery of over 450 preventative carriageway schemes and to address key junctions and gateways, 13 structural maintenance schemes, supported by £10.9 million in funding. Alongside this we also intend to deliver 210 footway schemes to enhance pedestrian infrastructure.

The Council’s strategy is articulated in the Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (HIAMP). The HIAMP sets out SCC’s long-term objectives and outlines how highway assets are managed in a structured, data-informed, and lifecycle-based manner. It also supports the delivery of the Council’s Strategic Plan 2022–2026, which focuses on sustainable economic growth, fixing more roads, and stronger community resilience.

The Council adopts a coordinated, insight-driven approach to enable effective long-term planning, informed investment decisions, and the delivery of reliable services that meet both user needs and financial constraints. To support this approach, SCC has recently:

• Procured a new strategic asset management system (XA) to serve as the central platform for all highway asset data, enhancing cross-asset coordination, forward planning, and reporting.
• Advanced the digitisation of key highway asset records, improving visibility of asset condition, performance, and maintenance responsibilities.
• Undertaken lifecycle modelling to inform the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and prioritise the annual capital maintenance programme.

To enhance public engagement and deliver more transparent, joined-up services, SCC has also implemented a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module. This system enables end-to-end tracking of customer contacts, integrates with asset data, and strengthens feedback loops between the public and operational teams ensuring more responsive and coordinated service delivery.

Staffordshire continues to lead and collaborate through regional and national groups and professional networks. These partnerships support shared procurement, joint technology trials, standardised service specifications, and collaborative funding bids, driving efficiency and consistency across local authority boundaries.

This integrated and collaborative approach underpins Staffordshire’s commitment to delivering a safe, efficient, and sustainable highways network for the benefit of all users.

Specific plans for 2025/26

Staffordshire County Council is delivering a balanced, evidence-led highway maintenance programme in 2025/26, focused on long-term condition, safety, and value for money.

The strategy integrates both planned and reactive maintenance, underpinned by lifecycle planning and a risk-based asset management framework. Approximately 1.4 million m² of carriageway will be treated through over 450 preventative carriageway schemes, alongside 210 footway schemes to enhance pedestrian infrastructure. In parallel, 13 structural maintenance schemes will address key junctions and gateways, supported by £10.9 million in funding.

To prepare for these works, around 10,000 defects, mainly potholes, will be repaired as part of surface dressing preparation, with up to 33,600 potholes expected to be addressed throughout the year, depending on winter severity. A range of innovative repair techniques will be used, including thermal patching, and the JCB Pothole Pro.

The Council also plans to invest up to £14.5 million over the next three years in maintaining bridges and other highway structures, recognising that full bridge replacements are beyond the scope of annual maintenance grants. In addition, £1.25 million will be directed toward planned drainage improvements at locations where poor drainage is accelerating surface deterioration, helping to reduce flooding and improve safety across carriageways, footways, and cycleways.

This programme reflects the Council’s commitment to a ‘right treatment, right time’ approach balancing reactive and planned interventions to reduce long-term costs, improve resilience, and maintain public confidence. All planned maintenance programmes are published annually on the authority’s website to ensure transparency and accountability.

Streetworks

As the local Highway Authority, Staffordshire County Council is responsible for coordinating all street works and road works across the publicly maintained highway network. Our aim is to minimise disruption, manage resources efficiently, and ensure safe and equitable access to road space for all users.

We operate within a framework of statutory legislation and national codes of practice, which define the responsibilities of both utility companies and highway authorities. These include:

• New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) 1991
• NRSWA Code of Practice for Coordination
• NRSWA Code of Practice for Inspections
• Traffic Management Act 2004
• Highways Act 1980
• Permit Schemes: Statutory Guidance for Highway Authorities

Staffordshire County Council operates a permit scheme across all publicly maintained roads within its boundary. The scheme supports the following objectives:

• Minimising disruption and inconvenience caused by road works and highway events through proactive coordination.
• Improving the accuracy and timeliness of information received from works promoters, enabling better travel data and journey planning.
• Encouraging advance planning and responsible execution of works to reduce the impact on road users.
• Protecting the structural integrity of the highway and the apparatus within it.
• Ensuring the safety of all road users and operatives, with particular consideration for people with disabilities.
• Promoting fair and consistent treatment of all works promoters, including utility companies and the council’s own highway teams.

We are currently finalising our Traffic and Network Management Plan, which sets out our approach to managing the highway network both now and in the future. This plan outlines a comprehensive range of activities designed to keep people, goods, and services moving efficiently across Staffordshire. The local highway network is experiencing growing pressure due to a rapid rise in infrastructure investment and development. Contributing factors include:

• Increased capital investment to improve the condition of ageing roads.
• The national rollout of superfast broadband and overlapping telecoms infrastructure.
• Grid electrification to support electric vehicles and heat pumps, requiring an estimated 600,000 km of new cabling by 2050.
• Ambitious housing targets, such as East Staffordshire’s 55% uplift to 644 new homes per year, driving demand for new roads and utility connections.
• An estimated £14 billion per year in utility upgrades across water, gas, and telecoms sectors.

These trends are placing unprecedented strain on the coordination and delivery of street and road works across the county.

In addition to planned activity, around 20% of all works on the network are emergency repairs such as burst water mains, damaged power cables, or disrupted fibre connections. These works cannot be scheduled around traffic patterns and often result in unplanned disruption. Planned works, by contrast, provide opportunities for mitigation through:

• Scheduling outside of peak travel times
• Use of alternative construction methods
• Implementation of effective traffic management
• Joint planning between parties
• Proactive communication with the public

Despite these measures, the scale of demand remains immense. In 2024 alone, the Staffordshire network was occupied for more than 39,000 days. If each job were carried out consecutively, it would take over 100 years to complete just one year’s worth of activity.

Climate change, resilience and adaptation 

Until the most recent funding announcement, Staffordshire County Council’s highway management strategy had primarily focused on climate change adaptation and resilience, in line with national guidance. Although carbon reduction was not the central objective, the energy-intensive nature of the sector, spanning materials, vehicles, and waste meant that lowering emissions often aligned with cost-efficiency goals. Even without direct mandates from local authorities, suppliers are increasingly expected to reduce carbon emissions, whether due to regulatory requirements or in response to rising energy costs, market pressures, and investor expectations.

In response to these evolving demands, the Council is actively assessing the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of its highway assets under a range of future climate scenarios. This work supports broader efforts to strengthen resilience, enhance preparedness, and ensure long-term sustainability. The Council also collaborates with regional highway authorities and national bodies to reduce the environmental footprint of highway maintenance, identifying opportunities to minimise and offset emissions associated with operational activities.

Staffordshire plays an active role in national innovation programmes, including its participation in Live Labs, a government-backed initiative aimed at accelerating innovation in local highway management. Now in its second phase, Live Labs 2 is a £30 million, three-year programme focused on decarbonising local roads. Through this initiative, the Council is helping to advance best practices in measuring, reporting, and reducing carbon emissions across the asset lifecycle.

To support long-term adaptability, climate risk is now embedded into the Council’s operational planning. Environmental considerations are integrated into specifications where appropriate, enabling early, informed decision-making that aligns with the Council’s sustainability objectives.

A strong example of this commitment is the “Invest to Save” LED street lighting programme, through which approximately 47,000 of the county’s 94,000 streetlights are being replaced with energy-efficient LED lanterns. This initiative is expected to save around £1.5 million annually in energy costs and reduce carbon emissions by approximately 12,000 tonnes. In addition to environmental benefits, the new lighting improves reliability, reduces maintenance needs, and enhances lighting quality, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable highway network.

Staffordshire’s approach reflects a clear commitment to responsible asset management, ensuring its highways are climate-resilient, low-carbon, and capable of supporting a safe, efficient, and future-ready transport network.