The number of miles of road in England resurfaced or given life-extending treatment is at its lowest point in five years, government data indicates.

RAC analysis of government data shows a 29% reduction in the miles of road resurfaced over five years

RAC analysis of the figures shows a 29% reduction in the miles of road resurfaced in 2021-22 compared to 2017-2018, equivalent to 465 fewer miles.

For surface dressing – a technique that extends the life of roads and helps to prevent the need for full resurfacing – the figures were down 34% in the last financial year compared to  five years ago, equating to nearly 2,000 fewer miles.

Of the 153 roads authorities included in the latest data (2021-2022), three in 10 (31%) did not carry out any resurfacing. Meanwhile, half (51%) failed to carry out any surface dressing work.

The average length of road resurfaced for all authorities over the 12 months was just 13 miles while it was 42 miles for surface dressing. Kent resurfaced the most miles of A-road at 29 of its 502 miles (5.8%) while Lincolnshire did the most surface dressing at 50 miles of its 661 miles of A road (7.6%). Looking at B, C and unclassified roads, Hertfordshire led the way in resurfacing by replacing 41 miles (1.5%) of its 2,759 network roads and Norfolk topped the table in surface dressing by treating 326 miles of its 5,627 roads (5.8%).

In percentage terms however, Southend-on-Sea resurfaced the greatest proportion of its 21-mile A-road network at 13% (3 miles) while Blackpool surfaced dressed 43% (11 miles) of its 26 miles of A-road. For B, C and unclassified roads Tower Hamlets did the largest proportion of resurfacing at 14% (21 miles of its 152-mile network) and Reading surfaced dressed 15% (34 miles) of its 224-mile network.

The figures come as the RAC renews its call for the Government to change the way it funds local roads maintenance, ideally by ringfencing a proportion of money raised through fuel duty to give councils the certainty of having longer-term funding that ultimately enables them to get all the roads in their control into a better overall condition.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “These figures paint an incredibly stark picture of road maintenance in England and confirm our worst fears about the overall decline in the state of the country’s roads. While the Government has made more money available to authorities to fill potholes, it’s the general reduction in road improvement work that’s causing potholes to appear in the first place.”

He also warned that councils in many areas were “barely scratching the surface” when it comes to getting their roads up to a reasonable standard.

“Indeed, the fact that such a large proportion haven’t done any surface dressing or resurfacing at all over a 12-month period really does say it all,” Williams added.

“Resurfacing is expensive but for some roads this will be the only course of action as they have fallen into such bad condition that nothing else can save them. Having said that, we urge authorities to make greater use of surface dressing and other preventative treatments which can be used successfully to improve surfaces and extend the lives of roads.”

According to the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), the total amount of money now needed to address the backlog in road maintenance works has increased to more than £12bn and would take 11 years to clear.

However, the RAC has said it believes these figures are somewhat skewed towards full resurfacing and that more could be done to improve conditions for drivers by using more cost-effective road surface treatments. For example, according to the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) it costs £5 per square metre to surface dress a heavily trafficked A or B road compared to £30 per square metre for conventional asphalt resurfacing.

Simon Williams added: “We encourage local authorities to take a more preventative approach to road maintenance as this will make their squeezed budgets go further and improve England’s roads for the future.

“We also continue to call on the Government to increase the roads funding settlements for councils, not least because England’s major roads receive seven times what local roads are given, despite the fact there are seven times more miles of minor roads.”

MPs call for reinstatement of effective ring-fencing for local road maintenance

The RAC’s call for increased roads funding comes as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Better Roads also issues a report calling for central government to re-instate effective ring-fencing and multi-year settlements for local road maintenance.

The report draws on a review of the Pothole Action Fund (2015-16 through to 2020-21) demonstrating that it was a successful policy which contributed to marked improvements in the overall structural conditions on the local road network – but since its replacement,  the gains made have been lost.

The document says that since 2021, when the Pothole Action Fund was incorporated into councils’ general block highway funding from the Department for Transport, the number of roads classed as ‘good’ has gone into reverse. The APPG report points to data that shows there are now 5% fewer – 8,811 miles of English local roads – in this category than 2020/21, the last year of the fund.

The APPG for Better Roads’ report also draws on the AIA ALARM, which highlights that shortfalls in local authority annual highways maintenance funding have been rising steeply – up 82% – since the Pothole Action Fund ceased to be ring-fenced.

Sir Christopher Chope MP, chairman, APPG for Better Roads, said: “Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have pledged to tackle the ‘plague of potholes’ on our local roads. But, as this report shows, funding for local road maintenance is falling and the Government’s assumption that hard-pressed local authorities will spend allocations on roads is not enough.

“The rollout of autonomous vehicles and decarbonising transport will place even greater funding pressure on our local road network in the years ahead. That’s why we are calling for a Better Roads Fund to be created with longer-term funding commitments, budget ring-fencing and full transparency on allocation.

“This Better Roads Fund would help deliver a sustained improvement in road conditions and enhanced network resilience. It would also save money over the long term and ensure our local roads are able to support the challenges ahead.”

The full report ‘Working for better roads: A call for the re-instatement of effective ring-fencing for local road maintenance’ is available here.