£16 billion pothole repair bill for England and Wales

The rate of pothole repairs on local roads in England and Wales has reached an eight-year high according to a new report, with an estimated two million repairs in the current financial year. That is up 43% compared with 1.4 million during the previous 12 months, and is the highest annual total since 2015/16 when 2.2 million potholes were filled in.

Just 47% of local road miles were rated as being in a good condition, with 36% adequate and 17% poor. The survey found that average highway maintenance budgets increased by 2.3% in the 2023/24 financial year compared with the previous 12 months. Meanwhile, the amount needed to fix the backlog of local road repairs has reached a record £16.3 billion, up 16% from £14.0 billion a year ago.

“Logistics businesses have been severely affected by the decline in the state of highways in recent years,” says Logistics UK’s Head of Cities and Infrastructure Policy, Jonathan Walker. “Our members currently face significant bills for repairs caused by pothole damage (on average, £575.74 for an HGV and £246.87 for a van) while the impact of taking vehicles off the roads for repair is interrupting the supply chain.

“Given the size of the roads repair backlog and the importance of our sector to the UK economy, we must see government funding spent more quickly, to get our roads back into a good state, with a longer-term settlement needed to future-proof the network." 

In October 2023, the government announced it would provide £8.3 billion of extra funding over 11 years to fix potholes in England. This was part of the Network North strategy to use money saved by scrapping the planned extension of HS2 north of Birmingham.

Published On: 21/03/2024 15:02:28

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