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Pothole bill for roads in England and Wales hits £16.8bn
18 March 2025

Local authorities in England and Wales would now need a one-off sum of £16.8 billion (�20 billion) to fix pothole-ridden roads and bring the local roads network up to “ideal� conditions.
That is according to the latest edition of the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report, published by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).�
Less than half (48%) of the local road network are reported to be in good condition, with the remaining 52% stated to have less than 15 years� structural life remaining.�
Meanwhile, the proportion of roads reported to be ‘green� (in a good state of repair) has fallen by 1%. Those classified as ‘red� (poor overall condition) has increased by 1%.�
The average frequency of resurfacing for all classes of roads is once every 93 years.�
The survey highlighted a repeated pattern of short-term cash injections from the government in an effort to slow the decline in road conditions, after longer periods of underfunding.�
Nearly all local authorities reported that, in their opinion, there had been no improvement to their network over the past year. And 65% stated that conditions had declined.�
David Giles, chair of the AIA said, “Over £20 billion (�23.8 billion) has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade but, due to the short-term allocation of this funding, there have been no significant improvements in structural road conditions.”�
He called for a “complete change in mindset�, away from short-term to long-term funding commitments. “Local authorities need a minimum five-year funding horizon and there needs to be a substantial, sustained increase in investment with budgets ring-fenced specifically for local roads maintenance.”�
The survey identified an annual maintenance budget shortfall for all carriageways across England and Wales of nearly £1.3 billion (�1.5 billion), which was an increase of 58% on the figure reported 10 years ago.�
It claimed that local authorities in England and Wales would have needed an extra £7.4 million (�8.8 million) each to maintain their network to their own targets.
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