North Yorkshire council chiefs have accused the region’s mayor, David Skaith, of “highways robbery” amid claims the county is losing £20m in funding to fix potholes and resurface roads.

According to the Northern Echo a row has broken out between senior councillors at North Yorkshire Council and the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, over a highways maintenance settlement from the Department for Transport. The mayor says the unitary authority will receive a record-breaking £268m over the next four years to fix roads, thanks to an increase in government funding.

For 2025/26, North Yorkshire Council will be allocated £63.8m for highways maintenance – up from £57.8m in the current financial year, while City of York Council will receive £7.1m in the same period, up from £4.4m this year.

But North Yorkshire Council says it will actually receive around £20m less over the four years from changes planned by the mayor than it would if the money came directly from the DfT.

Senior councillors say a new calculation devised by the mayor would mean £4m redirected from North Yorkshire Council to City of York Council.

Around £30m is being set aside to use for repairs to the major roads network, with another funding pot being allocated for minor improvements such as dropped kerbs and new crossings.

North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Councillor Carl Les,  said:

“We have faced harsh weather conditions throughout a particularly wet winter, and the full allocation of the Department for Transport’s funding would allow us to start to improve the condition of the highways network. But to be confronted with a loss of more than £20m even before inflation is factored in over the next four financial years is going to have a very detrimental effect on the condition of our highways.”

Talks this week between North Yorkshire Council, the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and City of York Council are understood to have ended without agreement on funding.

(Picture: North Yorkshire Council)