Roads in England and Wales in worst state ever as local routes face £16.81 billion repair backlog
An annual survey looking into the state of local authority-controlled roads in England and Wales has concluded that things have never been worse, with 12 years of continuous work required at a cost of £16.81 billion to get things back on track.
Released on Tuesday, March 18, the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report, conducted by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), found that 52% of local road networks (or 106,000 miles) have less than 15 years of structural life remaining.
“Over £20bn has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade,” Chair of the AIA, David Giles commented.
“However, due partly to the short-term nature of the allocation of funding, it has resulted in no quantifiable uplift in the condition and resilience of the network.”
Now in its 30th year, the 2025 ALARM report received a record 78% response rate from local authorities before drawing conclusions.
The document relates to the 2024/25 financial year and further discovered that each council would have required an additional £7.4m in their budgets simply to meet their own targets and prevent further deterioration.
The findings also suggested that 24,400 miles (or 12%) are likely to need some form of maintenance in the next 12 months and that 1.9million potholes were filled in across the 2024/25 period at a cost of £137.4 million over the timeframe.
“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,” David Giles continued.
These opinions tally up with the views of MCN readers. In a snap poll online, 95.6% of 227 respondents agreed that the number of potholes on local road networks has got worse in the last 12 months.
“There’s some really nice roads and some really terrible ones that they don’t seem to be doing something about,” Cumbrian rider, Harry Hawkins, 60, told MCN.
“It can be main roads and back roads; they all have some serious potholes, and they don’t seem to repair them properly.”
Around two-years-ago, Harry was riding his Honda SS50 special build at 30mph and struck a large crater with his back wheel. The impact sheered a 10mm bolt and caused his rear shock absorber to pierce the base of his fuel tank.
“I’ve just clocked 10,000 miles now, so it’s a pretty well proven machine,” the Barrow motorcycle mechanic explained. “They did patch the hole, but it’s reappearing already.”
On December 20, 2024, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced councils in England would receive a share of £1.6 billion to repair potholes. The funding is claimed to be enough to fix and additional seven million across 2025 and 2026.
“Broken roads can risk lives and cost families hundreds if not thousands of pounds on repairs,” Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer said during the reveal. “That’s a cost that can easily be avoided by investing properly in our roads.”
However, authorities have been told this week they must show what work is being done in order to access funds, with some complaining of red tape.
The AIA would like to see a number of changes, including a move away from short-term cash injections in favour of sustained financial support.
“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,” RAC head of policy Simon Williams added.
“In the meantime, all road users continue to pay the price with uncomfortable journeys, avoidable breakdowns and repair bills because potholes are so bad.”
On July 22, 2024, the National Audit Office released their own report into the condition of local roads in England. These stretches of make up 98% of the network, with the document concluding that improvements are required.
“Reducing the backlog of maintenance would allow local authorities to follow best practice principles focused on work that prevents poor road condition, leading to financial efficiencies and better value for money,” it stated.
What’s being spent where?
In December 2024, the Labour Government pledged £1.6 billion to local authorities in England to help with road repairs and fill in an additional seven million potholes across 2025 and 2026.
According to the Department for Transport, more than £327 million will go to councils in the North West, North East, plus Yorkshire and Humber.
An additional £372 million will be allocated to the East Midlands and West Midlands, with over £244 million given to local authorities in the East of England.
From there, over £322 million will be given to the South East and London, with £300 million-plus handed to the south west. Although welcome, it’s billions short of the AIA’s findings.
To read the full report for yourself, visit the Asphalt Industry Alliance website today.
