The Chancellor has promised an extra £500m for road maintenance in the next year to tackle the UK’s pothole plague.

The Chancellor said the funding delivers on Labour’s commitment to fix an extra million potholes a year

In her first Budget as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves said the nation’s potholes were an “all too visible reminder of our failure to invest as a nation” and pledged new funding to deliver on Labour’s manifesto commitment to fix an additional one million potholes a year.

The £500m increase in road maintenance budgets for 2024/25 marks a near 50% increase in funding, with almost £1.6bn allocated to maintain and renew the nation’s roads.

The RAC said the extra investment would allow cash-strapped local authorities to begin the process of improving the quality of their roads.

But head of policy Simon Williams said it was vital that councils use the money to deliver long-term benefits rather than just filling potholes.

“We believe greater use of preventative maintenance is essential. Surface dressing roads at regular intervals is a proven, cost-effective way of ensuring potholes don’t appear in the first place, along with resurfacing the worst affected roads,” he stated.

The AA said that extra funding would help counter road safety hazards for cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians, as well as expensive damage for vehicles.

Edmund King, AA president, added: “As we stressed to the Chancellor and Transport Minister, we would also like to see a longer-term commitment to funding as this is important in terms of road safety, would save money for the health service and repairs; but it needs to be ring-fenced with an emphasis on innovation and more permanent preventative maintenance.”

But David Giles, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), said the investment fell short of the long-term funding horizon the sector has been calling for.

The AIA’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report for 2024 revealed that £14.4bn is needed for English authorities to fix the backlog of repairs, rising to £16.3bn for authorities across England, London and Wales.

“Local roads, which underpin all other local services, help support growth and are a key issue for members of the public and we know from our ALARM survey that conditions are at an all-time low, and that this is the result of decades of underfunding,” said Giles.

“Our hope was that the Chancellor would have announced a multi-year ringfenced commitment, allowing local authorities to plan and proactively carry out the effective maintenance needed to drive improvement in our local roads.”

And Bryn Brooker, head of road safety at car technology manufacturer Nextbase, said the new government had failed to get serious about Britain’s crumbling roads.

“Our roads have become so dangerous that drivers are forced to swerve around potholes, creating additional hazards for everyone.

“This chronic underinvestment is contributing directly to Britain’s car insurance crisis, with premiums now 58% higher than they were just a year ago, as vehicles suffer increasingly expensive damage from poor road conditions. Something has to change.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) also said the Budget failed to take action to tackle road safety.

Steve Cole, director of policy, campaigns and public affairs at RoSPA, said: “Investment in road safety measures is critical to reducing the number of road traffic accidents.

“We welcome the £500m increase to the road maintenance budget and the commitment to fix one million potholes, but more is needed to make roads safer.

“Enhanced funding for road safety campaigns, infrastructure improvements, and enforcement of traffic laws are essential to protect all road users.”