Shropshire Council has disclosed it will spend more than £1.38 million on staff who oversee road maintenance during the 2026/27 financial year, and has revealed the sums earmarked for pothole and permanent repair work across the county.
How the money is split
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the authority confirmed the total budget for salaries, National Insurance and pensions for highways operations is £1,383,240 for 2026/27. Separately, the council has allocated funds for repairs to the carriageway.
| Budget item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Highways operations (salaries, NI, pensions) | £1,383,240 |
| Revenue — urgent pothole/safety repairs | £325,820 |
| Capital — permanent works and larger schemes | £10,700,000 |
"As the figures indicate, there has been a conscious effort to implement permanent works,"
The council emphasised that the revenue figure is intended for urgent safety repairs to the road surface and typically covers temporary fixes. It said that this sum does not include other maintenance duties such as work on footpaths, cycleways, signs, vegetation control, barriers, signals or responses to severe weather.
Which roads will be planed in August
Alongside the financial disclosure, the council published the forthcoming schedule for its Multevo Multihog road-planing machines. These vehicles shave off defective surface material to create a neat, squared opening for repair teams to fill, which the authority says speeds up permanent repairs compared with manual sawing and breaking out.
- Multihog 1 — Monday 10 August: Two Gates junction to Broughton Farm junction, Claverley
- Multihog 1 — Friday 14 August: Draycott, Claverley
- Multihog 1 — Wednesday 19 August: A454 from junction east of Swancote to Wyken Crossroads, Bridgnorth
- Multihog 1 — Thursday 27 August: Stanley Lane, Shrewsbury
- Multihog 2 — Tuesday 4 August: Junction with B5009 to Iron Mills junction, Gobowen (section 3)
- Multihog 2 — Monday 17 August: Dark Lane, Broseley
- Multihog 2 — Friday 21 August: Lower Cross Lanes crossroads to Church junction, Heath
Work will take place on weekdays only, between 9.30am and 4pm. Road users in the named locations should expect organised operations during those hours and plan journeys accordingly.
The publication of these figures and the timetable gives residents greater transparency about how the council is prioritising road repairs. The larger capital allocation suggests a shift towards investing in longer-term resurfacing and permanent fixes rather than relying solely on temporary patches.
For motorists and local businesses, the schedule is a useful prompt to check routes in advance and be aware of potential short delays while maintenance teams operate. The council’s statement made clear that other maintenance activities across the county are funded from separate budgets and are not included in the pothole totals it supplied.
