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Councils receive just two thirds of the funds needed for road repairs

06 September 2023

The UK’s annual expenditure on local roads maintenance fell from £4 billion in 2006 to £2 billion in 2019. This is despite estimates from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) that say tackling potholes in the UK could cost £14 billion.

The organisation also revealed that around 37,000 miles of road surface, representing 18 per cent of the local roads network, is in poor condition with less than five years of life left.

The UK government increased the Potholes Fund for English road repairs by £200 million to £700 million for this financial year. However, councils in England and Wales have, on average, only received two thirds of the funds needed this year to stop the further deterioration of road surfaces. The shortfall amounts to £1.3 billion, according to the AIA.

The Local Government Association (LGA) analysed figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and found that, of 13 countries studied, the UK had the third largest spending cut on roads maintenance after Ireland and Italy.

Budgets in France, Canada and Finland also dropped slightly. 

Comparatively, the US, Japan, New Zealand, Austria and Sweden increased spending by half over the same period.

LGA chairman Shaun Davies said, “The UK has fallen from the top to almost the bottom of the league when it comes to the amount we spend on repairing our local roads. Decades of reductions in funding from central government to local road repair budgets have left councils facing the biggest ever annual pothole repair backlog. Positive extra funding in the recent budget will help, but councils still face considerable challenges.”

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