Pothole repair bill could reach £14bn by 2019, LGA says

The Local Government Association (LGA) has highlighted statistics from the Asphalt Industry Alliance's (AIA), annual ALARM survey, which has projected the pothole repair bill to rise to £14 billion by 2019.

The LGA warned that the pothole repair time has soared from an estimated 10.9 years in 2006 to 14 years in 2016, with the average English authority currently facing a £69 million estimated one-time cost to bring its roads up to a reasonable condition.

The LGA is calling on the Government to inject a further £1 billion a year into roads maintenance, and suggested this could be met by investing 2p per litre of existing fuel duty, but should not involve increasing fuel duty rates.

The LGA also pointed out that over the remaining years of the decade the government will invest more than £1.1 million per mile in maintaining national roads - which make up just three per cent of all total roads.

Cllr Martin Tett, LGA Transport spokesman, commented: "This year could be a tipping point year regarding potholes and councils, who have experienced significant budget reductions, now face the looming prospect of a bill of £14 billion to bring the nation's roads up to scratch.

"It is wrong and unfair that the government allocates almost 40 times more to maintaining national roads, which it controls, compared with local roads, which are overseen by councils. It is paramount this funding discrepancy is swiftly plugged.

"It is becoming increasingly urgent to address the roads crisis we face as a nation. Councils fixed a pothole every 15 seconds again last year despite significant budget reductions leaving them with less to spend on fixing our crumbling roads. Local authorities are proving remarkably efficient in how they use this diminishing funding pot but they remain trapped in a frustrating cycle that will only ever leave them able to patch up our deteriorating roads.

"Councils share the frustration of motorists having to pay to drive on roads that are often inadequate. Our polling has shown that 83 per cent of the population would support a small amount of the existing billions they pay the Treasury each year in fuel duty being reinvested to help councils bring our roads up to scratch.