Setting the record straight on Suffolk’s highways funding

Suffolk has recently been rated Red for capital spend on highways. This rating is based on factually incorrect information.

Every pound of Highway Maintenance Grant received by Suffolk County Council has been fully invested in the highway service. This has been the case over the last two financial years and consistently over the past five years.

Following a meeting with Department for Transport officials, it is clear that the Red rating has arisen for two specific reasons.

First, the incentive element of the 25% uplift was not included in the June 2025 submission because confirmation that this funding would be released had not been received at that time. Confirmation was only provided in late December 2025. Now that this funding is confirmed as available cash, plans are in place for it to be fully spent within the current financial year.

Second, £10 million of the 2025/26 DfT allocation was deliberately brought forward and invested in 2024/25 to accelerate maintenance works, based on the longer-term funding outlook at the time. This decision was clearly set out in the Transparency Report submitted in June 2025.

Looking at the figures across both years, Suffolk County Council invested £87.0 million in highways capital works against a total DfT allocation of £78.2 million. Applying the Department’s own scoring methodology, this level of investment places Suffolk clearly in the Amber band, not Red.

We have asked the Department for Transport to correct this factual error as soon as possible. There is no reason why this correction cannot be made immediately.

Accuracy and transparency matter, especially when it comes to investment in Suffolk’s roads.