East Sussex has £2.9m for road repairs, but this year's list names no Peacehaven or Telscombe road. City roads are separate. Checked November 2026.
East Sussex County Council has secured £2.9 million for road and pothole repairs, but none of it is for Brighton & Hove, and the county’s planned maintenance programme for this year lists no road under Peacehaven, Telscombe, Saltdean or Falmer.
The money matters to people who live just over the city boundary, or who drive across it. Brighton & Hove City Council runs its own roads and announced its own award of just over £1.4 million on 23 October. East of the boundary the roads are the county’s, apart from trunk roads such as the A27, which National Highways maintains.
The £2.9 million is part of the incentive money in the Department for Transport’s road maintenance grant, and it depended on the county publishing a Highway Maintenance Transparency Report (East Sussex County Council, 4 November 2026). The council also receives a £15.9 million baseline grant, and could receive another £2.9 million later this year if it meets other conditions, including spending its maintenance funding and publishing an updated policy for managing the network.
Those three sums come to £21.7 million, which matches the £21,739,000 of Department for Transport maintenance capital shown for 2026/27 in the county’s report. The same line was £21,002,000 in 2025/26, a rise of £737,000.
“This is not new money”
Cllr Peter Griffiths, the county council’s lead member for transport and environment, said: “I am pleased we have been able to meet the requirements set by the DfT to receive the maximum grant available to us, which will help us improve the standard of East Sussex roads, pavements, assets and structures.
“As well as qualifying us for the incentive element of the grant, the Highway Maintenance Transparency Report enables us to set out publicly an accurate picture of the condition of East Sussex roads, pavements, and structures, and the significant amount of work we are carrying to keep the network running.”
He added: “It’s important to note that this is not new money. The DfT has replaced our annual block grant and one-off pothole grant with a single payment which includes the incentive grant.
“It will, along with money from Council Tax contributions, help us fund the work needed to maintain the highway network in East Sussex, but we need to be realistic about the level of funding that would be needed to bring almost 2,000 miles of road up to a high standard.”
What is planned east and north of the city
The report gives county-wide figures and names no town. The local detail is in East Sussex Highways’ planned maintenance programme for 2026/27, which we checked on 4 November. It does not show reactive pothole repairs, and it warns that dates can change.
- Peacehaven, Telscombe, Saltdean and Falmer: no entries.
- Newhaven: construction at Denton Corner and vegetation work on the Port Access Road are marked in progress.
- Iford: work listed as “Rectify SCRIM Failures” on the C7 Newhaven Road is due in March 2027.
- Northease: surface dressing on the C7 Newhaven Road is marked completed.
- Ditchling: patching on the B2112 Ditchling Road was listed to start on 2 November.
- Lewes: road safety work in Nevill Road was listed for 3 November, and in Offham Road for January 2027.
- Ringmer: patching on the A26 Uckfield Road is listed to start today, 4 November.
Peacehaven, Telscombe and East Saltdean have a further reason to watch this. Ministers are minded to move them into Brighton & Hove under a new council starting on 1 April 2029, while Falmer stays in East Sussex. The county’s report says nothing about what that would mean for its roads.
How the city and the county compare
Both councils have now published the same kind of report, so the two can be set side by side.
| Brighton & Hove | East Sussex | |
|---|---|---|
| Roads maintained | 620km | 3,120km |
| Pavements maintained | 1,159km | 2,482km |
| Potholes repaired, 2025/26 | 8,328 (estimate) | 22,453 |
| A roads rated red, 2025 | 14% | 5% |
| B and C roads rated red, 2025 | 12% | 6% |
| Unclassified roads rated red, 2025 | 8% | No figure |
| Total maintenance spend, 2026/27 projected | £26.8m | £43.15m |
| Resurfacing planned, 2026/27 | 7km | About 13km |
Sources: our report on the Brighton & Hove figures and the East Sussex Transparency Report.
The city has about a fifth of the county’s road length and plans about three fifths of its spending. That works out at about £43,000 per kilometre of road in the city against about £14,000 in the county, although both totals also cover items such as bridges and street lighting.
Do not read the table as a league table. The city attributes a jump in its own red figures to a change of survey method. The county’s count covers only potholes that met its safety defect criteria under the reactive programme; it also completed 120 patching programmes in 2025/26 and does not record how many potholes those fixed. It has no 2025 figure for unclassified roads because winter conditions affected its survey, and the Department for Transport advised it to submit a nil return. In 2024, 17% of those roads were in red.
Where the county’s money goes
The county projects total spending of £43.15 million in 2026/27, up from £39.96 million in 2025/26 but down from £45.93 million in 2024/25. Government money has risen over that time, from £16.86 million to a projected £22.75 million, while funding from the council and third parties has fallen, from £29.07 million to a projected £20.40 million.
This year’s plan moves towards full resurfacing and away from preventative treatment: about 13km of resurfacing against 2.4km in 2025/26, and about 46km of treatments such as surface dressing against 69.5km.
What it means for you
- Work out whose road it is. Inside the city, report it to Brighton & Hove City Council. Over the boundary, use the East Sussex Highways report form or FixMyStreet. The county also has a 24-hour phone line for road defects and emergencies.
- What counts for a repair in East Sussex: normally 40mm deep and 300mm wide in all directions on a road, and 20mm deep and 200mm wide on a pavement or cycleway. Inspectors can arrange repairs to smaller potholes where other risks apply, such as location and how the road is used.
- How fast it should be fixed in East Sussex: within 2 hours, 5 days or 28 days, depending on risk, and temporary repairs are followed by a permanent one. You can track a report online and are told when the case is closed.
- What is planned on your road: the East Sussex planned works map covers the county, and the city’s road maintenance programme covers Brighton & Hove. For closures happening now, see our Brighton roadworks and travel page.
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