29.10.18
Hammond allocates £420m to deal with the UK’s pothole crisis in Budget
Local authorities in England will receive £420m to grapple with the nation’s growing pothole crisis in chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget announcement today.
Alongside a commitment of £28.8bn to upgrading England’s road networks, the £420m cash boost will build on the existing fund of almost £300m.
An extra £3.5bn of new cash will be allocated to major local routes, which also fall under local council control.
Potholes, and road maintenance in general, has been a hot-topic for many in recent years: chair of the Transport Select Committee Lilian Greenwood wrote for the latest edition of PSE, highlighting how compensation claims due to damage caused by potholes cost England’s local authorities £43m between 2012 and 2017.
“Local roads are the arteries of prosperous towns and cities, but even on brief journeys to the local shop, you too may have had cause to remark on the state of disrepair,” Greenwood wrote.
“Local roads are critical to the movement of goods as well as our own journeys for both business and leisure. We know that this is a high-priority issue among the public, and I hope we will help put the onus on the government to address it sooner rather than later.”
Today, Hammond will look to quell those concerns, with the upgrades being largely funded by vehicle excise duty— the first time the tax has been ring-fenced on the roads. An extra £150m is being given to councils to improve road junctions on local routes.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance has claimed more than £8bn would be needed for a one-time fix of potholes in England.
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