Councils must show they are serious – or face losing cash

By David Reading

The Government has announced a £1.6 billion investment to tackle potholes, to be delivered to councils from April.

But in order to receive the money, councils in the South East must publish how many potholes they have filled.

Local authorities that comply will receive their full share of the money.

The Government has also announces an investment of £4.8bn across Britain to maintain motorways and deliver economy boosting road schemes including the M3 junction nine  and M25 junctions 10 and 28.

A Government statement says: “The public will now see exactly what’s being done to tackle potholes, as the Government will now require councils in the South East to prove progress or face losing cash.”

From mid-April, local authorities will start to receive their share of the Government’s £1.6bn highway maintenance funding, including an extra £79m for the South East.

But to get the full amount, all councils in England must, from today (March 24th), publish annual progress reports and prove public confidence in their work.  Local authorities who fail to meet these strict conditions will see 25 per cent of their pothole funding withheld (which is £19.9m for the South East).

Surrey County Council has welcomed the funding and says it is already making huge progress.

Cllr Matt Furniss (Conservative, Shalford), who is Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: “We’re resurfacing more roads and pavements than ever, with 99 miles of roads and 33 miles of pavements resurfaced by our highways teams from April 2024-January 2025. And during the same period we also completed 48,327 pothole repairs.

“We welcome this funding, which will assist us in repairing and improving Surrey’s roads and pavements over the next five years as part of our £300m programme (2023 – 2028).”

Also today, the Transport Secretary has unveiled £4.8bn funding for 2025/26 for National Highways to deliver critical road schemes and maintain motorways and major A-roads.

The Government says this cash will mean getting on with pivotal schemes, such as the M3 junction nine scheme in Hampshire, enabling thousands of new homes, and connecting ports and airports, as well as improvements to the M25 junctions 10 and 28.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “The broken roads we inherited are not only risking lives but also cost working families, drivers and businesses hundreds – if not thousands of pounds – in avoidable vehicle repairs. Fixing the basic infrastructure this country relies on is central to delivering national renewal, improving living standards and securing Britain’s future through our Plan for Change.

Keir Starmer

“Not only are we investing an additional £4.8 billion to deliver vital road schemes across the country to get Britain moving, next month we start handing councils a record £1.6 billion to repair roads and fill millions of potholes across the country.”

The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “After years of neglect, we’re unblocking the South East’s roads – fixing the plague of potholes, 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 per cent of their £500m funding boost.”

To ensure councils in the South East are taking action, they must now publish reports on their websites by June 30th, 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 minimising 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.

By the end of October, councils must also show they are ensuring communities have their say on what work they should be doing, and where. The public can also help battle back against pothole ridden roads by reporting them to their local council, via a dedicated online portal.

The Government says the £4.8bn for National Highways will protect the country’s strategic road network, which provides critical routes and connections across the country for people, businesses and freight to help drive for growth as part of Plan for Change.