Conservative concern Hertfordshire County Council’s £100m highways budget is ‘not enough’

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is set to spend £100m on highway maintenance in the next financial year, but doubts have been cast about whether it is enough.

The authority, which has an overall operational budget of more than £1.1 billion, is responsible for 3,200 miles of roads.

The £100m earmarked in the draft 2025-26 budget is £6m higher than this year (2024-25) but not high enough to match inflation.

At a meeting of the council’s highways and transport cabinet panel, Cllr Reena Ranger (Con, Rickmansworth East and Oxhey Park) acknowledged the “wider pressures on the county” but said: “£100m is probably not enough, right?”

She highlighted the county’s “ageing” roads, the apparent increase in utility companies maintaining their declining infrastructure and the impact of climate change.

Cllr Ranger also questioned the council’s ability to make further savings, saying: “There’s not much more to be efficient with.”

She asked at what point the council would need more money from the Government.

In response, the director of highways operations, Anthony Boucher, said that the authority was “in regular dialogue” with the Department for Transport about the grants the council receives.

He suggested that the number of days there was “occupation of the highway” – or road works – had decreased last year.

He said that was a “testament” to HCC’s network management team, which had negotiated with utilities to get the shortest duration possible for their work.

Nevertheless, Cllr Phil Bibby, the council’s executive member for highways and transport, suggested this may not be the experience across the county.

“If you live at the older towns in the county, their infrastructure is really crumbling,” he said. “But yeah, network management do a very good job to try to co-ordinate as much as they can.”