Driving home for Christmas
“Focus on fixing potholes, Prime Minister urges councils.”
Councils need to “get on” with fixing potholes, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stressed, highlighting the importance of road repairs as the government detailed how it intends to allocate its £1.6bn budget for road maintenance across the country.
New budget
Each local authority in England will receive a share of the budget for the upcoming financial year, which is £500m more than the previous allocation.
A portion of this increase will be withheld “until authorities demonstrate they are delivering,” according to the government.
The rise, announced in October’s Budget, is expected to repair an additional seven million potholes.
Each local authority in England can utilize the funds to identify the roads most in need of repair and implement “immediate fixes,” the government stated.
As transport is a devolved matter in the UK, this budget applies exclusively to England.
Why this is happening
Sir Keir Starmer warned that damaged roads could endanger lives and cost families “hundreds, if not thousands,” in repair bills.
He emphasized that his government’s new priority is addressing the everyday frustrations people face, with potholes being a prime example of an issue that infuriates many.
However, the responsibility for carrying out these repairs lies with local councils, not the national government.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has estimated that clearing the backlog of road repairs could require over £16bn.
The RAC has described the situation in the UK as a “pothole epidemic.”
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