Government Pledges Additional £500m For Pothole Repairs
The government officially announced in the Autumn Budget that an additional £500m has been made available to repair potholes on UK roads.
The news was welcomed by many with it representing a 50% increase in road maintenance funding for the 2024/25 year, with almost £1.6 billion now earmarked to repair potholes and problem roads.
Earlier in the year the Labour party had said it was committed to repairing an additional 1 million potholes every year and this is the first step into making that pledge a reality.
It also follows experts calling for an end to what’s known as ‘temporary’ pothole repairs, with more pothole-related breakdowns than ever being reported.
Britain’s Pothole Problem
You don’t have to head for long to spot a pothole and we’re all accustomed to weaving around them…
But potholes are a genuine road safety concern which road safety experts and the government are keen to address.
Estimates put the total cost to the economy by pothole damage at more than £14 billion each and every year, with vehicles being damaged or written off and people missing work, appointments and meetings.
Part of the issue is that road maintenance levels in England have fallen by 45% in the last 5 years, according to the latest data.
Government statistics revealed that 3,366 fewer miles of road received any improvement work in the financial year ending April 2023.
That means that when compared to the 2017/18 year, the total amount of road improvement or maintenance works carried out has decreased by almost half.
Addressing The Pothole Issue
Budget constraints are an issue for many councils in terms of achieving targets set regarding potholes and road repairs.
As a result, many roads have been left in a state of disrepair for much long than they should, which has prompted action from central government to ensure that the funding is ringfenced.
That means local authorities can only use the pothole repair money to do just that, rather than it being allocated to a wider council budget.
With an estimate last year stating that it would take 7 years to address the backlog of pothole repairs across the UK with the current level of funding (prior to the announcement), it has been clear for some time that it was a problem that needed addressing.
The only question is how quickly the repairs will take effect and how quickly each of us will notice roads near us on regular routes becoming more manageable to drive on.
Given that there are more vehicles on UK roads than ever before and we’re collectively making more journeys than ever before, it has never been more important to address road maintenance and repair work.
Do you think more needs to be done to deal with potholes and road repairs? And do you think the government’s pledge for an additional £500m in pothole repair funding goes far enough? Let us know in the comments below.
