County Council Has Spent Nearly All Winter Maintenance Money

The county council has spent almost all of its money for winter maintenance – and it is only September.

Derbyshire County Council has already spent £1 million on winter maintenance, with this year’s season yet to come.
Around £400,000 of its £1.4 million budget remains.

Derbyshire County Council now says that it will likely spend another £1.5 million on combating winter damage – such as potholes on roads – by the end of the current financial year.

The extra money will be funded from the authority’s reserves – its pot of money for rainy days.

The county council has spent the past few years stepping up its efforts to repair potholes – many of which were created by the infamous Beast from the East which hit the UK in the winter of 2017-18.

As a result, the authority says that it has fixed around 28,500 potholes during the first half of the year – with increases in its pothole repairs from £2 million to £6 million.

In the first six months after 2017’s infamous winter, the council said it had fixed 40,500 potholes – double the amount it would typically repair.

Council leader, Cllr Barry Lewis, says the authority continues to face significant budget pressures, including the money available for highways maintenance.

He says that the answer lies in “continuing with our fair funding campaign, lobbying Derbyshire MPs, central government and individual ministers to insist that funding for local authorities is shared out fairly and can cover the rising cost of vital services”.