Councils told to fix their potholes or face losing cash for roads
Cash-strapped councils could miss out on funds for fixing roads unless they can show they’re winning the battle against the pothole scourge.
From today, local authorities in England will be required to publish annual reports laying out the state of their roads – and how many potholes they’ve managed to fill in.
If they don’t, they face missing out on a share of £1.6 billion in highway maintenance funding from the government, which includes half a billion pounds specifically for tackling potholes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move would force councils to ‘prove they’re delivering for their communities’.
But the Local Government Association (LGA) has said many English councils are already struggling to work out how they’ll balance their budget for next year.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that completely fixing pothole-pocked roads across England and Wales could cost around £17 billion and take 12 years.
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A survey from the Asphalt Industry Alliance also found one in six miles of local highways has less than five years of structural life left.
And it’s not just B-roads that are affected – when one almighty fissure split open the M25 last October, almost 60 cars were taken out and drivers were left sitting helplessly on the hard shoulder for hours.
One victim, Stephanie Vincent, said the two burst tyres on her husband’s BMW would cost over £700 to replace.
She said: ‘I can’t believe the amount of cars that were damaged. It’s lucky nobody was injured really.’
Today, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced £4.8 billion funding for National Highways over the coming year, which will go towards maintenance as well as new road projects.
Keir Starmer tells Metro readers why he's made the move
Potholes are an ugly scar on Britain’s roads. They’re dangerous. And they cost families, drivers and businesses hundreds, sometimes thousands, in repairs. They’re a visible sign of decline under 14 years of Tory chaos, allowing our infrastructure to crumble and never bothering to make the basics work for working people.
This government is on the side of drivers. That’s why we’ve frozen fuel duty. And I know the state of our roads affects millions of people and businesses across the country. Whether you’re trying to get to work or take your kids to school, or whether you drive a delivery van that businesses rely on, people depend on our roads for their lives and livelihoods.
At the budget last year, the Chancellor announced a record 1.6 billion investment to maintain our roads. That’s £500m higher than the previous sum. It’s enough to fill an extra 7 million potholes this year alone. Our message to local councils was clear – you have the funding, now get fixing.
But we need to go further and faster. That’s why today we’re announcing £4.8 billion to invest in our road infrastructure. We’ll make transport easier and more efficient for everyone who relies on our roads, from commuters to companies.
We’ve also given the go ahead for major road schemes that have been sat gathering dust on desks for too long. We’ll upgrade roads across the country to deliver smoother, safer journeys for drivers.
It’s not just the roads we’re sorting out. We’re committed to rebuilding Britain, so we’ll fast-track 150 major infrastructure parliaments in the next five years. That’s more than the last 14 years combined. We’re getting shovels in the ground to build new railways, grid connections, hospitals, schools – and 1.5 million new homes.
And they’ll all be well served with good roads to connect the country.
This is part of my Plan for Change. We’re rebuilding Britain, boosting growth and improving people’s lives.
The figure is not far off the £5bn that will be cut from the UK’s welfare bill in savings unveiled by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall last week.
She said: ‘After years of neglect we’re tackling the pothole plague, building vital roads and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer.
‘The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they will have to show progress or risk losing 25% of their £500m funding boost.’
Starmer added: ‘British people are bored of seeing their politicians aimlessly pointing at potholes with no real plan to fix them. That ends with us.
‘We’ve done our part by handing councils the cash and certainty they need – now it’s up to them to get on with the job, put that money to use and prove they’re delivering for their communities.’
Councillor Adam Hug, the LGA’s transport spokesperson, said the £500m funding would ‘help start to address’ the maintenance backlog, adding councils ‘already spend more than what they receive from central government on tackling potholes and repairing our roads’.
He called on the government to ‘ensure that councils receive sufficient, long-term funding certainty’ as part of its ongoing spending review.
Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a big week where the government’s spending plans will come under intense scrutiny.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her spring statement on Wednesday, setting out how she plans to get the UK economy on a more stable footing.
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg yesterday, she confirmed her plans include slashing the running costs of the Civil Service by 15% before the end of the decade.
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