Councils told to prove action on potholes to unlock extra cash

Every council in England must publish how many potholes they have filled or lose road cash

THE public will now see exactly what is being done to tackle potholes, as the Government demands councils prove their progress or face losing cash. From mid-April, local authorities in England will start to receive their share of the Government’s record £1.6 billion highway maintenance funding, including an extra £500 million – enough to fill 7 million potholes a year.

But to get the full amount, all councils in England must from today (24 March 2025) publish annual progress reports and prove public confidence in their work. Local authorities who fail to meet these strict conditions will see 25% of the uplift (£125 million in total) withheld, whilst those that comply will receive their full share of the £500 million roads pot, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: ‘After years of neglect we’re tackling the pothole plague, building vital roads, and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer. The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they will have to show progress or risk losing 25% of their £500 million funding boost.’

To ensure councils are taking action, they must now publish reports on their websites by 30 June 2025, detailing how much they are spending, how many potholes they have filled, what percentage of their roads are in what condition, and how they are minimizing street works disruption.

They will also be required to show how they are spending more on long-term preventative maintenance programmes and that they have robust plans for the wetter winters the country is experiencing – making potholes worse.

Responding to today’s announcement from the Department for Transport on funding for local roads, a spokesperson for the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) said: ‘Government commitments to local roads spending is welcome, but short-term cash injections, even with greater accountability and strings attached, are not likely to improve conditions.

‘Decades of underfunding now means that the backlog of carriageway repairs stands at almost £17 billion and one in every six miles of the local road network is reported to have less than five years’ structural life remaining.

‘So, if we want our local roads to improve, the focus needs to shift from the number of potholes filled to giving local highway engineers the tools to do the job so that they don’t form in the first place.

‘Local authorities have told us they would need their budgets to more than double for next five to 10 years to tackle the backlog of repairs. That’s why we have been calling for a multi-year, front-loaded and ring-fenced funding commitment similar to those that the rail and motorway sectors benefit from.

‘This would allow authorities to plan, provide better value for money for taxpayers, and deliver a more resilient network while helping to kickstart the Government’s economic growth plans.’