Durham County Council, alongside Lincolnshire County Council, was one of only two highways authorities in England to achieve the top Band 3 status under the Department for Transport’s new self-assessment process for highways maintenance.

The new system grants a maximum annual share of a top sliced £578m Incentive Fund to councils in Band 3 throughout this parliament.

Band 1 councils lost 10% of their allocation this year, and will lose their entire share by 2020-2021. Band 2 councils, which make up the majority of highways authorities, kept all their cash this year but will also start to lose out from 2017-18.

Transport Network spoke to John Reed, head of technical services at Durham County Council, about how his council made the journey to become one of the highest rated highways authorities in the country and what advice he has for others.

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