Road maintenance spending at lowest level in decade

Road maintenance spending by councils is at the lowest level it has been in 10 years, new government figures show.

Department for Transport (DfT) statistics show local authority maintenance spending on B roads, C roads and unclassified routes in 2016-17 was £1.87 billion. This is the lowest it has been in a decade and is down from £2.46 billion in 2004-05.

The DfT also said the state of local authority-managed highways and other major roads has improved gradually over the last five years.

Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s (LGA) transport spokesman, said: “The latest figures from the Department for Transport show the chronic need for more investment in local roads.

“Councils are doing what they can against a backlog of repairs on our local roads which currently stands at over £12 billion and is estimated to take 14 years to fix.

“Facing ongoing budgetary pressures, councils regularly review their spending priorities in order to enable businesses and communities to connect with each other, meet the needs of their local economies and keep road users safe.

“However, in order to bring all roads up to scratch they need long-term and sustained investment from central government, which can be addressed in part in the forthcoming final Local Government Finance Settlement.”