The repair backlog for ‘pothole-plagued’ local roads in England and Wales has now reached almost £17bn, up from £16.3bn a year ago.

£16.8bn is now needed, as a one-off, for local authorities to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions

This year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) found that £16.8bn is now reported to be required, as a one-off, for local authorities to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions.

The study also revealed one in every six miles of the local road network – equivalent to 34,600 miles has less than five years’ structural life remaining. And more than half (52%) of the network has less than 15 years’ structural life remaining – more than 106,000 miles.

Local authorities would have needed an extra £7.4m each last year to maintain their network to their own target conditions and prevent further deterioration. But local roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 93 years.

More than £20bn has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade and a pothole has been filled every 18 seconds, every day, over this duration.

But David Giles, chair of the AIA, warned that the short-term allocation of this funding has led to “no quantifiable uplift in the condition and resilience of the network”.

He went on: “In fact, almost all (94%) local authority highway teams reported that, in their opinion, there has been no improvement to their local network over the last year: a view no doubt shared by the majority of road users.”

Each year, the AIA commissions an independent survey of local authority highway departments in England (including London) and Wales. This year marks the 30th successive ALARM survey and highlights the continuing challenges facing highway teams, who don’t have the level of funding needed to keep local roads in good condition.

The Government recently announced a record £1.6bn investment to fill potholes and repair roads across England for 2025/26, but the AIA said the ALARM surveys show “a repeated pattern of short-term cash injections in an effort to stem the accelerating decline in road conditions, followed by longer periods of underfunding”.

“There needs to be a complete change in mindset away from short-term to longer term funding commitments,” added Giles.

“Local authorities do their best with the resources available. Nevertheless, they have told us they need their budgets to more than double for the next five to 10 years if they are going to be able to address the backlog of repairs.”

The association is calling on the Government to set a minimum five-year funding horizon and a substantial, sustained increase in investment with budgets ring-fenced specifically for local roads maintenance.

“This would deliver a more resilient network and value for money for taxpayers while providing local roads that are safe, keep people connected and will help support economic growth,” added Giles.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams agreed: “The lack of investment in our roads is a false economy as it just leads to bigger repair costs in future – something local authorities can ill-afford. In the meantime, all road users continue to pay the price with uncomfortable journeys, avoidable breakdowns and repair bills that they only incur because potholes are so bad.

“We’re committed to working closely with the road maintenance sector, including the AIA, to get the message to government that councils need to have certainty of resources to look after one of their most valuable assets – the roads millions of us use every day.”

And charity IAM RoadSmart warned that effective action was needed to tackle the safety risks of crumbling roads.

Nicholas Lyes, director of policy and standards, said: “Potholes are an expensive headache for drivers but for those on two wheels they pose a serious road safety hazard. Moreover, if drivers are swerving to avoid them, they are risking a collision. While filling a pothole provides temporary respite and a brief improvement in the safety of the road surface, it is essentially a sticking plaster because the section will crumble away under the weight of traffic and from the effects of a cold winter. We need to start properly resurfacing our roads to ensure we’re not throwing good money at bad roads, but most importantly to ensure smooth and safe journeys.”

Yesterday Kwik Fit published its own research, revealing that the cost of pothole damage to the nation’s drivers has reached £1.7bn following a surge in repair bills. The study found the average repair bill faced by drivers is the highest since the servicing and fast fit firm began tracking the cost in 2013. Drivers having to repair damage from potholes over the last 12 months had to fork out an average of £144 – up from the previous figure of £120 after two years of falling costs. Moreover, over the last year, over one million drivers have stumped up more than £300.

The majority of drivers are also pessimistic about their immediate prospects. The Kwik Fit study found 62% say they don’t expect the roads in their local area to improve in the near future, despite the additional funding recently announced by the Government.

The full ALARM survey for the 2024/25 financial year is online here.