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22
Apr
Pothole repairs axed in North Yorkshire following funding row
Council officers have outlined the impact of a decision by the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire which they say will lead to a loss of £20 million on transport schemes.
Last month, Labour mayor David Skaith proposed a transport budget for both North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council over the next four years.
Mr Skaith altered the funding formula used by the Department for Transport to allocate funds.
He diverted proportionately more money to City of York Council, and £20 million less to over North Yorkshire Council over the next four years.
The Conservative-run council criticised the mayor and has also threatened legall action against York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which Mr Skaith chairs, over the decision.
Now, in a report due before a transport scrutiny committee next week, James Gilroy, team leader of highway asset management at the council, has outlined how the funding will affect the authority’s maintenance programme.
Mayor David Skaith (right)
Mr Gilroy, who wrote the report alongside Allan McVeigh, head of network strategy, confirmed the combined authority's decision will see £20.5 million less highway maintenance funding over the four-year funding period.
He pointed out that, while there was an uplift in funding for 2026/27, the four-year funding period would be less than the Department for Transport would have allocated it under a previous formula.
The department used to allocate funds directly to North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council on a funding ratio of 92.7/7.3, with North Yorkshire Council receiving the greater share.
But the DfT has now allocated £456.2 million over four years to the combined authority, which then distributes it to the two councils.
Mr Gilroy said:
Whilst the uplift in funding is welcomed for 26/27, it does not negate the fact that North Yorkshire Council will now receive £20.5M less for highway maintenance funding up until 29/30 than would have been the case if the DfT baseline allocations had been retained.
The report goes on to list a range of schemes which the council could deliver at least one of “with every £1 million of funding”.
It includes:
- Carry out 22km of carriageway surface dressing treatments
- Treat 13km of roads with a micro asphalt treatment, which deals with surface defects and provides a long-lasting surface. For context this would be 60% of residential streets in Northallerton or 100% of residential streets in Norton
- Retexture 33km of roads, restoring surface texture and skid resistance and further extending the life of the carriageway
- Apply a rejuvenator solution to 44km of roads which helps to prolong the life of roads in good existing condition and slow their deterioration.
- Deliver in the region of 20,000-25,000m2 of carriageway patching.
- Deliver 4km of carriageway resurfacing & reconstruction which would help to deal with longstanding carriageway issues
- Deliver 14km of footway resurfacing
- Refurbish (waterproofing) of 6 reinforced concrete bridge decks or
- Redeck 4 small concrete bridge structures or strengthen 10 bridge arches
- Deliver 5 landslip schemes
Legal action threat
The move comes as the council has challenged York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which Mr Skaith chairs, over the decision.
While the budget was supported by the mayor and City of York Council Labour chiefs, North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative leader Carl Les and deputy leader Gareth Dadd voted against the plan.
Cllrs Les (left) and Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the council.
In a letter before action sent by assistant chief executive Barry Khan, the council claims legal errors were made when the decision was taken on March 27, which means the outcome was unlawful.
The council claims that the decision needed Cllr Les, as leader of North Yorkshire Council, to be in agreement, while it also alleges that the mayor prevented Cllr Dadd from moving an amendment to the budget proposal, which is a breach of the constitution.
Cllr Les said his authority was taking the action because the budget decision was “prejudicial to the residents of North Yorkshire”.
In response, Mr Skaith said the council’s action was “beyond regrettable”.
He added:
It’s a political stunt which could waste thousands and thousands of pounds of taxpayer money. I think the public will see it for what it is, the Tories using public money to fight against getting more investment every year for the next four years.
That record investment will now have to be paused. That stings so much because they sat back quietly when the last Conservative government actually did cut their roads funding two years in a row.
I wasn’t elected to carry on the business as usual that has failed communities across North Yorkshire for decades.
You can read our explainer article about what Mr Skaith's decision over road funding will mean for North Yorkshire here.
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