Publish pothole progress or lose cash, PM Starmer tells England councils

Local authorities in England must show how they are improving roads and tackling what the government describes as a “pothole plague” or lose out on millions of pounds in funding.

The Department for Transport said councils will start to get their share of a £1.6bn road maintenance pot from mid-April, including an extra £500m.

However, to get all of the extra funding, the DfT said English local authorities must publish annual reports detailing progress on pothole fixing, with a quarter of the funding held back to those who fail to do so.

The Local Government Association said the government should focus on preventative measures rather than “reactively” fixing potholes, which is more expensive.

All local authorities who are eligible will get 75% of the extra £500m promised in last autumn’s budget. The remaining 25% could be withheld.

Funding that is held back will be redistributed to councils that have proven to have made the required progress.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said broken roads are “not only risking lives but also cost working families, drivers and businesses hundreds – if not thousands of pounds – in avoidable vehicle repairs”.

He added that councils have the cash to get on with the job.

According to data from the RAC, there are six potholes for every mile of road in England and Wales.

The DfT said councils’ road maintenance progress reports must be published by the end of June and say how much they are spending, how many potholes they have filled, how they are minimising roadwork disruption, and what their long-term road maintenance plans are.

By the end of October, councils must also demonstrate that local communities have been consulted on where repairs should take place.

It added that councils who “fail to meet these strict conditions” will see 25% of the funding withheld.

The policy will only apply to English councils as funding for Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish local authorities is a devolved matter.

During the election campaign, Labour pledged to repair up to a million potholes a year in England.

The LGA said the additional government funding will help start to “address the previously ever-growing backlog of local road repairs” which stands at £17bn and “could take more than a decade to fix.”

It added: “Councils already spend more than what they receive from central government on tackling potholes and repairing our roads.

“However, it’s in everyone’s interests to ensure that public money is well spent. This includes the Government playing its full part by using the Spending Review to ensure that councils receive sufficient, long-term funding certainty, so they can focus their efforts on much more cost-effective, preventative measures rather than reactively fixing potholes, which is more expensive.”

Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon described the government’s announcement as a “pothole sticking plaster”.

He said: “Labour like to talk a big game on fixing roads but they are more interested in chasing headlines.”

The Liberal Democrats transport spokesman Paul Kohler called for a “more sustainable approach” to repairs, saying fixing individual potholes was welcome but did little to address a “crumbling road infrastructure”.