Government's promise of a record £6Bn to tackle potholes during the next six years falls well short of what councils need, according to the Local Government Association.

The group's transport spokesman Councillor Peter Box responded to an announcement by the Transport Secretary over Christmas that the £976M a year earmarked between 2015 and 2021 will be enough to fix 18 million potholes across the country.

“Recent harsh winters and decades of underfunding by successive governments have created a national backlog of road repairs that would take £12Bn and a decade for councils to fix,” Councillor Box said. "So while helpful, the new money announced by the Government does not bridge the overall funding gap which is increasing year on year.”

He went on to suggest that the situation will only get worse with traffic projections predicting a potential increase in local traffic of more than 40% by 2040. And he said that tackling the ever growing national repair bill and backlog must be made a national priority.

“Government can do this by injecting an extra £1Bn a year into roads maintenance – funded by investing 2 pence a litre from existing fuel duty,” he said.

According to the Department for Transport over £4.7Bn will be shared between 115 councils, with a further £575M made available through a new challenge fund to help repair and maintain local highway infrastructure including junctions, bridges and street lighting.

An additional £578M has been set aside for an incentive fund scheme starting next year to reward councils who demonstrate they are delivering value for money in carrying out cost effective improvements.

Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme advocate Matthew Lugg said: “Taking a more holistic approach to planning roads and services can be game changing and deliver greater efficiencies.”

Highways Term Maintenance Association executive director Geoff Allister added: “We congratulate the Transport Secretary in taking the step of introducing an incentive element from 2016/17 into the local highways maintenance funding for councils.”

A CIHT spokesman said: “We are encouraged by the additional funding. We believe that certainty and continuity of investment over a sustained period is essential if overall improvements to the transport network are to be delivered effectively and efficiently.”

(Photo: Department for Transport)

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