Nottinghamshire’s roads are set for another £64 million boost after council bosses put in a special request to the East Midlands Mayor.
The council had already been allocated £47m for asset maintenance by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) for 2026/2027, as part of Mayor Claire Ward’s boost for each of the region’s four major councils – Nottinghamshire, Nottingham, Derby and Derbyshire.
Now, after submitting a business case about why they could do with extra funds, Nottinghamshire County Council will receive even more cash, spread over the next three years.
However, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the Mayor shrugged off suggestions that the authority could get its money earlier than planned.
Documents released this week by the county council showed that it was hoping to get its money sooner in order to avoid needing to take out loans – which would accrue interest on them – to meet their own targets.
County bosses are hoping to accelerate their “highway maintenance programme” to get it done as soon as possible.
But this would require them getting the £20m they’re set to receive for 2027/2028 now – which would require EMCCA approval.
Documents said: “If it is not possible for EMCCA to support the accelerated delivery of their funding allocations, then the council will be required to provide short-term bridging finance arrangements. If this is the case, then this will create budget pressures.”
Asked about this, the Mayor said that she “was not here to run Nottinghamshire County Council”.
She said: “They will get their money but they also know they can plan for the next three years because they’ve got that funding. If they decide that they want to borrow against that longer term income, that’s a matter for them.
“I’m not here to run Nottinghamshire County Council. That is their decision. That is a matter for them how they deliver it. They cannot say that they have not received more than generous levels of funding to fix the roads.”
The extra £64m is solely for Nottinghamshire.
The funding was agreed at a meeting of EMCCA’s transport committee, which is made up of members of all constituent authorities, on April 2, with no concerns raised about the extra money for the county.
The cash will be split into pots of around an extra £13m for 2026-2027 and pots of between £20m and £25m for the following two financial years.
The announcement comes after the Mayor previously shut down suggestions that a remaining unallocated £19m from the asset maintenance pot should go to Nottinghamshire.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport and environment, Councillor Bert Bingham, had asked the question at the previous transport committee meeting in January.
He argued that Nottinghamshire was subject to “underfunding” and a lack of representation in comparison to other EMCCA councils, noting that the £47m allocation was still £35m short of the number he said the county would need to keep the roads in the same state they’re in now.
But the Mayor told the LDRS in February that his plea was “never going to be accepted by anyone else”.
Now, after a full case was presented as to why the county should have more, it appears her position has softened.
It should be noted, however, that the money will not come from the spare £19m that wasn’t allocated, for highway maintenance.
Instead, it will come from a separate pot intended for “communities and neighbourhoods” – for the upkeep of smaller roads, “active travel” assets such as footpaths and bike lanes, and to refurbish pedestrian crossings, traffic signals and barriers.
Ms Ward said: “The council asked me for more money specifically and I worked with them to say: ‘Yes, but you need to show me what more you’re going to deliver for that and you also need to show me how we can use what you do in this area as almost like a test base for the rest of the region.’
“I will hold (the council) to account on it. They’ve told me that they are very pleased. I recently met with (county council leader) Mick Barton who expressed his gratitude for that additional funding and has reassured me that they plan to spend that to improve the roads and get it up to the standards that we want. I think it shows the focus that we have on road improvements.
“It proves my point that if you work with me and make a good case then EMCCA can deliver funding – because it is a priority for me to see those roads improved.”
EMCCA documents revealed that the county council had raised concerns about the standards of its “highway network environment, not just the condition of the highway surfaces.”
They say that the council case was that the money was needed “to deliver a more holistic local highways programme giving wider benefits whilst also creating the opportunity to raise network standards.”
And it confirmed that the approach “will serve as a testbed for the region and be evaluated over the early years of delivery with the potential for wider adoption.”
The proposed cash boost will be brought before EMCCA’s full board of members in June for final approval.
