Pothole Britain: Future of Roads Minister visits the UK's “worst area”

Derbyshire, highlighted by the RAC as the worst area in England for potholes, is set to benefit from a share of the government’s record £1.6 billion investment to resurface across England.

This includes an additional £20 million for the East Midlands County Combined Authority, which includes Derbyshire, as part of £1.6 billion funding for highway maintenance that will enable councils to fix up to seven million more potholes.

At the J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) power systems factory, the Roads Minister spoke to engineers to learn about the latest innovations being used to tackle the pothole plague.

The minister also met with local leaders to discuss their plans for filling potholes to deliver safer, quicker and less costly journeys for all road users in Derbyshire. This is part of the government’s plans to work more closely with local authorities to ensure they have the powers to spend funding where their communities need it most.

As part of its Plan for Change, the government is committed to delivering safer, smoother journeys – reducing delays, saving drivers money and going above and beyond its manifesto pledge.

Ms Greenwood, said: “Potholes are a clear sign of decline in our infrastructure: for too long roads like those in Derbyshire have been left in a state that endangers and costs road users.

“It’s time for change and we are investing £1.6 billion to fix up to seven million more potholes across England this year, including over £75 million for the East Midlands Combined Authority.

“JCB’s "Pothole Pro" is one of the many great examples of using new technology to repair potholes faster and demonstrates how companies are harnessing new technology to repair potholes faster. We’ll continue to engage with local leaders and industry to ensure innovations are being used to deliver roads the country deserves.”

Logistics UK’s Head of Infrastructure and Planning Policy Jonathan Walker said: “Potholes cost the UK’s economy -  and the logistics industry in particular - billions of pounds each year due to delays and vehicle damage, so our members welcome any coordinated plans to address this problem.

"Long-term funding is needed to address the huge backlog in road repairs, while work on the worst-affected routes must be delivered swiftly.

“We look forward to hearing how the government will meet its manifesto commitment to fix all our broken roads at the Spending Review.”

Ben Rawding, General Manager, Municipalities at JCB, said: “We are looking forward to introducing the minister to the benefits that innovation and technology can deliver in tackling the plague of potholes in our country.

“Last month’s announcement by the Department for Transport of £1.6 billion of funding for road repairs in England during 2025 is very welcome. Our appeal to the Minister will be for this funding to be spent wisely to ensure permanent long-term repairs become the priority for local authorities, making best use of value-adding, productive technology such as the JCB pothole pro.”

RAC Senior Policy Officer, Rod Dennis, said: “There’s no motoring-related issue drivers are more concerned about than the state of their local roads – where almost everyone’s journeys begin and end.

“Going beyond merely patching potholes is the name of the game, and using the latest technology to perform permanent repairs is a much better use of public money.

“To stop our roads falling apart in the first place, we support councils surface dressing them at regular intervals and resurfacing those that are beyond reasonable repair. We’d also strongly encourage drivers to report potholes they’re aware of to their local authority, via GOV.UK, the RAC website or using the Stan app.”

The government’s latest road maintenance funding builds on the wider support it is giving to councils to deliver core services and serve their communities.

£69 billion of funding will be injected into council budgets across England to help them drive forward the government’s Plan for Change through investment and reform and to fix the foundations of local government.

Published On: 23/01/2025 14:56:16

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