Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many potholes were filled on local roads in England in each of the last three financial years; what estimate her Department has made of the number of potholes filled in (a) 2024–25 and (b) 2025–26 to date; what baseline year is being used to measure the Government’s commitment to fix an additional one million potholes per year; and how many additional potholes have been repaired above that baseline since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
Under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, local highway authorities are responsible for the condition of their local road networks, including repairing defects such as potholes. Data on the number of potholes repaired by each local highway authority during the last five years is published in authorities’ highways maintenance transparency reports.
The record £7.3 billion funding settlement over the next four years will bring annual funding for local authorities to repair and renew their roads and fix potholes to over £2 billion annually, doubling annual funding by 2029-30 compared to 2024-25 levels. This funding increase is enough to enable local authorities to fill millions of additional potholes in each year of this Parliament when compared to 2024-25. At the same time, the Department is also expecting local highway authorities to adopt best practice in highways maintenance, which includes a greater focus on preventative maintenance so that fewer potholes form in the first place and a greater focus on permanent pothole repairs to reduce the need for repeated and more costly temporary repairs.
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