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As every driver knows, pot holes are a regular and annoying deature of Britain's roads. But how bad is the problem?
Transport firms that have suffered damage to their vehicles from badly maintained roads will be alarmed to hear that road maintenance by councils across England has fallen by almost half (45%) in 2022/23 compared to five years ago.
Analysis of Government statistics by the RAC shows that the fall resulted in 3,366 fewer miles receiving any kind of improvement work in the last financial year. The figures reveal that 764 miles of A roads were strengthened, resurfaced or preserved, a 37% decrease (458 miles) from 1,222 in 2017/2018.
Furthermore, with fleets regularly having to deal with pothole-related damage to vans and trucks, just 4% of the 17,853 miles of A roads maintained by councils in England were resurfaced or given life-extending preservation treatment in 2022/23.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said:
| “These figures lay bare just how little resurfacing and life-extending preservation work councils have managed to carry out in the last financial year. We suspect this means road maintenance in England has reached a new low point – a sorry state of affairs considering how car-dependent the country is. It’s especially concerning to see that so few miles of A roads received any form of road maintenance last year when these important routes are used by millions of drivers every day. Meanwhile, our minor roads that are essential in connecting rural areas have received barely a crumb of the pie.” |
Regionally, more than a third (35%) of the 158 roads authorities in the latest data failed to carry out any road surfacing while six-in-10 (61%) did no preservation maintenance work at all.
Over the past 12 months, the average length of roads resurfaced for all authorities was just 17 miles and 28 miles for preservation work.
From 2020 to 2025, the Government has pledged to invest £5 billion into road and highway maintenance.
Every year, the UK government allocates significant extra funding for addressing potholes and road maintenance. This is usually announced during the Spring or Autumn Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, the specific annual budget dedicated exclusively to pothole repairs may vary each year and is subject to change based on government priorities and budgetary allocations.
In the most recent Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt increased the funding available to deal with the ‘curse of potholes’ each year to £700 million. Additionally, local authorities receive funding through the various schemes for local road maintenance, including pothole repairs.
It's important to note that these figures and funding initiatives are subject to change with each new budget cycle or government announcement.
Cities and urban areas with heavy traffic tend to experience more wear and tear on their road infrastructure, making them more prone to potholes. Areas with significant urban centres like London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Glasgow may have a higher occurrence of potholes due to the increased traffic density.
Regions that experience severe weather conditions, such as heavy rainfall or freezing temperatures, are more susceptible to the formation of potholes. This is particularly true in areas of the UK that have colder climates, such as Scotland, northern England, and the northern parts of Wales.
Adding to this, roads in rural or less densely populated areas may receive less frequent maintenance and repairs compared to major highways and urban roads. These can often be in the colder areas of the country.
It's important to note that the situation can change over time as road maintenance efforts and infrastructure investments are made. Local authorities and highway agencies are instructed by the Government to address potholes and improve road conditions across the UK.
However, the data requested through the FOI showed the councils that are the worst impacted by potholes.
Derbyshire had the most potholes per region, with 90,596 – followed by Lancashire (67,439) and Northumberland (51,703).The area with the longest average time to fix individual holes was Stoke-on-Trent, with a massive 657 days. This was followed by Westminster (556 days) and Norfolk (482 days). |
(Source: FOI by the Liberal Democrats)
The RAC has joined forces with the developers of a new free mobile app that captures the location of potholes and other road defects while you drive, so councils know exactly where the problems are that need fixing.
Stan – which is available for both Apple and Android devices – uses a smartphone’s in-built camera together with cutting-edge computer vision technology to automatically identify road defects, such as potholes, with remarkable accuracy. All of this is done safely with the phone in a cradle, meaning there is no need to interact with it.
