Councils across England, including Ealing Council, could lose up to a third of next year’s pothole funding under new government rules aimed at ensuring money for road repairs is spent on maintaining local roads.
Local highway authorities that fail to demonstrate they are maintaining roads effectively could lose around a third of their share of a £1.6bn funding pot, the government said.
The Department for Transport said £525m will be held back from councils across England unless they are transparent and can prove they are performing. Under the new requirements, councils must publish reports showing they are spending all of their highways cash on road maintenance, set out long-term plans for looking after roads and provide better training for highways teams.
Roads and Buses Minister, Simon Lightwood, said: “Drivers deserve smooth, safe journeys and we’re making sure every pound goes straight into fixing roads and tackling potholes, not being spent elsewhere.”
He added: “We’ve made it crystal clear that councils that fail to maintain their roads will now risk losing up to a third of their funding.”
RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, said the measures should “go a long way” towards addressing the poor condition of local roads. He said it was “critical” that money given to councils to improve roads was actually spent on roads, and welcomed the encouragement for more preventative maintenance.
Edmund King, AA president, said it was right that councils were being scrutinised over their repair plans. He urged local authorities to use the funding to resurface roads rather than simply patching up streets.
The government said pothole damage costs the average driver around £500 in avoidable repairs
