Highways and transport: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £50.24/person · mean £55.42/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £0.9m | £386.73 | +670% | |
| 2 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £15.7m | £119.37 | +138% | |
| 3 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £4.2m | £101.71 | +102% | |
| 4 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £31.6m | £95.51 | +90% | |
| 5 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £13.4m | £94.60 | +88% | |
| 6 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £25.3m | £93.65 | +86% | |
| 7 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £34.4m | £91.88 | +83% | |
| 8 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £14.0m | £87.72 | +75% | |
| 9 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £17.9m | £83.58 | +66% | |
| 10 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £19.0m | £82.59 | +64% | |
| 11 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £11.2m | £80.43 | +60% | |
| 12 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £46.5m | £79.72 | +59% | |
| 13 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £42.7m | £73.84 | +47% | |
| 14 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £25.3m | £71.17 | +42% | |
| 15 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £13.2m | £70.54 | +40% | |
| 16 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £12.0m | £70.00 | +39% | |
| 17 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £6.8m | £69.38 | +38% | |
| 18 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £17.8m | £65.05 | +29% | |
| 19 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £33.9m | £64.71 | +29% | |
| 20 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £13.0m | £63.03 | +25% | |
| 21 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £14.4m | £60.30 | +20% | |
| 22 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £36.4m | £57.33 | +14% | |
| 23 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £18.8m | £56.63 | +13% | |
| 24 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £33.0m | £56.11 | +12% | |
| 25 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £6.2m | £55.02 | +10% | |
| 26 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £7.7m | £53.44 | +6% | |
| 27 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £16.3m | £53.21 | +6% | |
| 28 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £21.9m | £52.07 | +4% | |
| 29 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £10.1m | £51.78 | +3% | |
| 30 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £13.9m | £50.49 | +0% | |
| 31 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £18.7m | £50.24 | 0% | |
| 32 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £8.9m | £48.93 | -3% | |
| 33 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £12.9m | £47.26 | -6% | |
| 34 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £6.2m | £47.05 | -6% | |
| 35 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £17.8m | £45.84 | -9% | |
| 36 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £6.9m | £44.36 | -12% | |
| 37 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £9.3m | £42.98 | -14% | |
| 38 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £18.6m | £42.39 | -16% |
| 39 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £22.2m | £41.22 | -18% | |
| 40 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £13.6m | £41.06 | -18% | |
| 41 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £15.8m | £40.48 | -19% | |
| 42 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £8.3m | £39.47 | -21% | |
| 43 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £7.9m | £35.34 | -30% | |
| 44 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £6.3m | £33.23 | -34% | |
| 45 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £9.6m | £32.83 | -35% | |
| 46 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £5.4m | £32.56 | -35% | |
| 47 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £10.1m | £32.05 | -36% | |
| 48 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £6.2m | £31.76 | -37% | |
| 49 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £5.2m | £28.67 | -43% |
| 50 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £4.6m | £24.83 | -51% | |
| 51 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £7.6m | £24.77 | -51% |
| 52 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £6.0m | £23.04 | -54% | |
| 53 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £8.7m | £21.36 | -57% | |
| 54 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £3.5m | £21.29 | -58% | |
| 55 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £3.5m | £15.44 | -69% | |
| 56 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £2.8m | £11.62 | -77% |
| 57 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £1.3m | £9.33 | -81% | |
| 58 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £1.0m | £5.14 | -90% | |
| 59 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £-0.4m | £-0.75 | -101% | |
| 60 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £-3.2m | £-11.35 | -123% | |
| 61 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £-2.2m | £-13.65 | -127% |
What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the highways and transport bucket from each council’s 2024-25 Revenue Outturn (RO) submission to MHCLG, divided by ONS mid-year population. Higher per-head doesn’t imply waste — it can reflect demographic need (e.g. more older residents), rurality, or policy choice (e.g. retaining in-house services rather than contracting out). Lower per-head doesn’t imply efficiency — some councils have moved costs to fees, grants, or a ringfenced account.
Caveats. Councils under MHCLG suppression for 2024-25 don’t appear here (Birmingham, Slough, Cumberland and others — see their council card for the reason). Comparisons across the tier line don’t make sense, which is why this table is filtered to one council type at a time. Source: MHCLG Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing.