Pothole action fund specific grant

In April 2016, the government confirmed details of the Pothole Action Fund, which allocated money to local authorities to be spent on fixing potholes or the prevention of potholes.

Statement of spend 2016-17

The following statement is made in compliance with the grant conditions for the additional highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and outlines how and where the funding was spent in complementing St Helens' annual planned highway maintenance expenditure.

This additional grant funding received from the DfT for highway maintenance works during 2016/17 was £143,000. 

St Helens Council is appreciative of this grant and it enabled us to make a significant impact in repairing the highway network. 

The additional DfT funding complements St Helens MBC's own funding and, in accordance with HMEP (Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme) good practice, a comprehensive micro-asphalt programme was undertaken throughout the borough to seal numerous roads, helping to restore its surface integrity and prolong its life.

The overall length of resurfacing with micro-asphalt was 18.5 km over 104 sites and the additional funding contributed towards 3.8 km of that overall length or an additional 20%.

The level of funding for planned maintenance in St Helens for 2016/17 was £2 million and is used on structural, surface and preventative road maintenance schemes and treatment processes. The additional DfT funding complements St Helens' own funding and it supports a robust process of patching and surface treatments at a borough-wide level.

Statement of Spend 2017-18

The following statement is made in compliance with the grant conditions for the additional highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and outlines how and where the funding was spent in complementing St Helens' annual planned highway maintenance expenditure.

This additional grant funding received from the DfT for highway maintenance works during 2017/18 was £186,000 in February 2017.

An additional allocation of £128,948 of funding was received in February 2018 from the DfT which allowed any associate capital maintenance works to be undertaken during 2018/19.

St Helens Council is appreciative of this grant and it enabled us to make a significant impact in repairing the highway network. 

The additional DfT funding complements St Helens Council's own funding and, in accordance with HMEP (Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme) good practice, a comprehensive micro-asphalt programme was undertaken throughout the borough to seal numerous road, helping to restore its surface integrity and prolong its life.

The overall length of resurfacing with micro-asphalt was 10 km over 43 number sites and the additional funding contributed towards 5km of that overall length or an additional 50%.

The level of funding for planned maintenance in St Helens for 2017/18 was £1.7million and is used on structural, surface and preventative road maintenance schemes and treatment processes. The additional DfT funding complements St Helens' own funding and it supports a robust process of patching and surface treatments at a borough-wide level.

Statement of spend 2018-19

The following statement is made in compliance with the grant conditions for the additional highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and outlines how and where the funding was spent in complementing St Helens' annual planned highway maintenance expenditure.

This additional grant funding received from the DfT for highway maintenance works during 2018/19 was £259,687 in March 2018 and £1,072,000 in November 2018. A further £128,948 received in February 2018 was carried over for spending in 2018/19.

The additional DfT funding complements St Helens Council's own funding and, in accordance with HMEP (Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme) good practice, a comprehensive resurfacing programme was undertaken throughout the Borough to seal numerous roads, carriageway resurfacing, footway reconstruction and replace obslete concrete columns.

The overall length of carriageway resurfacing/micro asphalt was 5.5km with over 37 number sites and 1.5km of essential footway reconstruction over three number sites, helping to prevent the formation of potholes.

The additional funding also allowed the authority to establish a dedicated pothole repair team alongside the routine repair team in times of adverse weather. This new approach ensured a speedy pothole and repair service with a collaborative approach between Highways and Customer Services to provide a more efficient service.

A total of 1,348 number potholes were undertaken on carriageways and footways, together with a targeted repair programme on 'A' and 'B' roads using multi-hog. It also allowed St Helens Council to replace 172 number obsolete concrete columns.

The level of funding for planned maintenance in St Helens for 2018/19 was £1.5million and is used on structural, surface and preventative road maintenance schemes and treatment processes. The additional DfT funding complements St Helens' own funding and it supports a robust process of patching.

Statement of spend 2023-24

The Following statement is made in compliance with the grant conditions for the additional highway maintenance funding from the Department of Transport (DfT) and outlines how and where the funding was spent in complementing St Helens' annual planned highway maintenance expenditure.

The additional grant funding received from the DfT for highway maintenance works during 2023/24 was £524,114.

St Helens Council is appreciative of this grant, and it enabled us to make improvements to the highway network.

The additional DfT funding complements St Helens Council's own funding and, in accordance with HMEP (Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme) good practice, a comprehensive carriageway patching programme was undertaken throughout the Borough.

The additional funding also allowed the authority to establish a dedicated pothole repair team alongside the routine repair team in times of adverse weather. This new approach ensured a speedy pothole and repair service with a collaborative approach between Highways and Customer Services to provide a more efficient service.

A total of 2,380 number pothole repairs were undertaken on carriageways and 7,015m² of carriageway patching using innovative materials and processes.

The level of funding for planned maintenance in St Helens for 2023/24 was £3.31million and is used on structural, surface and preventative road maintenance schemes and treatment processes. The additional DfT funding complements St Helens' own funding and it supports a robust process of patching and surface treatments at a borough-wide level.