Misery continues for road users as backlog reaches new heights

The backlog of carriageway repairs in England and Wales has reached new heights at almost £17 billion while roads are only surfaced, on average, once every 93 years.

The figures, from this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report, spell more misery for road users with more than half (52%) – equivalent to around 106,000 miles – of the local road network reported to have less than 15 years’ structural life remaining.

And, almost a third of these – 34,600 miles or one in six of the total – may only have up to five years life left.

David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which commissions the ALARM survey, said: “Over £20 billion has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade, including spending to fill the equivalent* of one pothole every 18 seconds, every day, for 10 years.

“However, due partly to the short-term nature of the allocation of funding, this has resulted in no quantifiable uplift in the condition and resilience of the network.

“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.”

The ALARM survey reports local road funding and conditions in England and Wales based on information provided directly by those responsible for the maintenance of the network. This year’s survey, the 30th, received a record 78% response rate from local authorities.

Over the past three decades ALARM has reported a repeated pattern of short-term cash injections in an effort to stem the accelerating decline in road conditions, followed by longer periods of cuts and underfunding.

 The findings of ALARM 2025, which relate to the 2024/25 financial year, show that in England and Wales:

  • Local authorities would have needed an extra £7.4 million each last year to maintain their network to their own target conditions and prevent further deterioration.
  • £16.81 billion is now reported to be required, as a one-off, for local authorities to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions.
  • 24,400 miles (12%) of the network are likely to need some form of maintenance in the next 12 months.
  • Just 1.5% of the local road network was resurfaced in the last year.
  • Roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 93 years.
  • 9 million potholes have been filled at a cost of £137.4 million.

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

“That is why we are calling on Government, particularly now with a Comprehensive Spending Review ahead, to set a minimum five-year funding horizon and a substantial, sustained increase in investment with budgets ring-fenced specifically for local roads maintenance.

“Investing to save** in local roads would allow authorities to plan and provide better value for money for taxpayers and deliver a more resilient network while helping kickstart the Government’s economic growth plans.”

The full ALARM survey report will be available to download from 00:01 hours on Tuesday 18 March 2025 at: www.asphaltuk.org

 

* Based on ALARM 2016 – 2025 data, which reports that 17.5 million potholes have been filled in the last decade.

** DfT figures indicate that: For every additional £1 invested, there is an absolute minimum return of £2.20, with analyses identifying typical returns of up to £9.10 at a national level. (Source: DfT’s economic appraisal for investing in local highways maintenance)