How much worse are Britain’s roads getting? More routes deteriorating into a poor condition as Labour increases funds to fix potholes

The Government has pledged to spend a record £1.6billion next year fixing potholes across England as part of its latest effort to tackle the biggest scourge on our roads.

The 50 per cent hike in funding for resurfacing local roads – enough to fix seven million extra potholes in 2025/26, it has been claimed – was confirmed by the new Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on Friday.

Across England, local highways authorities will receive a £500m uplift in funding in an effort to make roads safer, improving journey times and saving drivers money on repairs.

But just how bad is the current state of the nation’s roads?

The latest report suggests more routes are falling into a state of disrepair – and that’s despite an increase in road surfacing this year compared to last.

Will a £1.6billion spend on road repairs be enough to tackle the issue? This is Money analyses the latest data. 

Paul Barker, editor of Auto Express added that £500m won’t ‘make much of a dent in the state of the UK’s roads’ 

How much really needs to be spent to fix roads in England and Wales?

The pothole backlog repair bill is estimated to stand at a record £16billion, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) latest figures published in March.

It is the third year in a row that the estimated cost to patch-up roads in England and Wales has increased. 

The report also suggests the Government’s proposed record spend of £1.6bilion in 2025 is just a tenth of the total required to completely refurbish the nation’s routes.

The AIA said the growing pothole crisis has been fuelled by a multitude of factors.

Among these is an increased frequency of extreme weather, more traffic and the impact of rampant inflation.

The latter has caused the average cost of filling a pothole to rise to £72.26, up from £66.54.

An ‘increased average vehicle weights on a deteriorating network’ has also been blamed.

As such, the annual AIA report, which is based on data supplied by local authorities, said it would take ten years to clear the current pothole backlog.

David Giles, chair of the AIA said the Government’s £1.6billion pledge for 2025 is a ‘cash injection that will do little to help local authorities plan for the long term’.

He told This is Money: ‘The funds concerned remain a fraction of what’s needed to prevent further decline. 

‘Clarity is also needed on the how Government funds held back will be released to local authorities – so that road users can be confident that all monies earmarked go towards improving local roads. 

‘Our wish for the New Year is that this is a precursor to a multi-year ringfenced commitment from the Government to local roads. 

‘This will help to ensure better value for money for the public funds allocated and help to ensure we have a local road network that is safe, keeps people connected and supports economic growth.’ 

Stephen Cooke, managing director of the Asphalt Group, added that instead of focusing on funding for repairs the Government should ’embrace a new culture of building roads that last’. 

How much worse are our roads getting?

While there’s a general consensus among motorists that the state of roads is going downhill, a new report has provided evidence that cements this theory. 

The Government’s Road conditions in England to March 2024 document highlights that a number of ‘A’ roads previously in good nick have fallen into a poor state of repair.

The report categorises road condition by a traffic light coding system.

While the volume of ‘red’ roads – those that should be investigated fully over concerns about the condition – have remained static, the report uncovered that the number of A roads moving from ‘green’ condition (no work is needed) to ‘amber’ status (maintenance may be required soon) has jumped in the last two years.

Since 2022, the proportion of ‘green’ A roads decreased by four percentage points from 72 per cent to 68 per cent in 2024, while ‘amber’ roads increased by three percentage points from 24 per cent to 27 per cent in 2024.

‘A’ roads and locally managed motorways account for around 10 per cent of the Local Authority managed road network in England and carry approximately 31 per cent of all traffic, according to the Government research.

These two charts show the breakdown of road conditions on A roads (left), and B and C roads (right) using the DfT’s headlight category system. Red suggests work is required immediately, amber hint at remediation likely being required and green is a fit state

These DfT chart tracks the percentage of roads receiving repair treatment each year. The declining lines are a cause for major concern

These maps show the dramatic increase in roads considered to be in a poor condition over the last decade 

RAC head of policy Simon Williams commented: ‘While the percentage of A roads that are deemed to be in the worst ‘red’ condition doesn’t appear to have got any worse, it’s concerning to see that more roads that were in reasonable ‘green’ condition have now deteriorated to ‘amber’ status.’

Similarly, the report shows that the number of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads – which together account for 29 per cent of local authority managed roads in England – now classified as ‘amber’ has increased by three per cent, from 28 per cent in 2022 to 31 per cent in 2024.

The percentage of red road has risen by one percentage point from six per cent in 2022 to seven per cent in 2024.

While this might not sound like a lot the report explains that it is equivalent to approximately 500 miles of the ‘B’ and ‘C’ road network.

Commenting on the three per cent amber increase, Williams pointed out that this ‘means approximately 1,500 miles of road around the country are now significantly worse than they were.’

To calculate these changes local authorities had to carry out Scanner surveys on 90 per cent of their ‘A’ road and motorways and 85 per cent of their ‘B’ road and 80 per cent of their ‘C’ road networks over a two-year period.

The report also showed that the percentage of roads receiving maintenance treatment has been in decline for the last 10 years.

For the local ‘A’ road network, the percentage of road receiving maintenance has fallen from 8.1 per cent in 2014 to 4.7 per cent in 2024. 

The percentage of the minor road network (‘B’, ‘C’ and unclassified roads) receiving maintenance treatment has seen a similar trend, with the percentage falling year on year since 2017, decreasing from 4.3 per cent in 2017 to 2.5 pe rcent in 2024. 

Circa 38.5 million m2 of surface dressing was applied over the surface treatments season in 2024 – the first surface dressing increase in 12 years

There’s been a rise in ‘permanent’ road repairs 

Another report published in recent days shows that the volume of UK road surface dressing – when an entire stretch of road is relayed – has been tracking at its lowest ever levels for the last 12 years, which would account for the terrible state of British roads. 

The Road Emulsion Association (REA) latest stats, however, show an increase in surface dressing in 2024.

Dressing involves respraying a road with bitumen binder, followed by a layer of stone chippings. 

The chippings are then pressed into the surface by a roller. 

To ensure a uniform coating of the emulsion, more chippings are applied to the surface than are required to complete the dressing process.

This is seen as a more permanent solution rather than the patchwork repair of potholes, which often sees the craters reemerge due to poor seals.

The trade association reported a 9 per cent increase in the volumes of bitumen emulsions for surface dressing in 2024 compared to last year.

Circa 38.5million metres square of surface dressing was applied in the last 12 months.

While this is good news, the upturn is still significantly below the typical volume of surface dressing used before 2012.

Kevin Maw, REA consultant and secretary, said: ‘While we have a long way to go to get back to the volumes of bitumen emulsions produced in the years up to 2012 to enable 60 million m2 per annum of surface dressing, this shows that the trend has started to turn, which is encouraging.’ 

The RAC is ‘similarly very encouraged to hear the Government talking about the need for preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing’, with Williams pointing out that it is ‘key to improving road surface conditions for the future’ and is how potholes are ‘prevented from appearing in the first place.’

An RAC investigation found a variety of different approaches by 206 local councils when it comes to identifying and repairing potholes

How councils differ in their ‘pothole’ criteria

Potholes are one of the biggest issues drivers in this country face, but various reports have found there is a desperate need to improve efficiency of identifying and repairing craters to tackle the problem faster.

Local authorities take bewilderingly polarised approaches to classifying potholes, a recent investigation exposed.

The RAC and Channel 4’s Dispatches programme found that whether potholes get fixed or not depends entirely on a council’s own criteria.

What classifies a pothole as needing repair varies wildly from one region to another too.

A third of councils were found to only fix potholes when they reach a specific depth, irrelevant of how wide they are.

The complete lack of cohesion towards pothole repair means that dangerous potholes go unrepaired and there’s a continuous risk to all road users.

Out of 206 councils approached by the RAC, just 76 (37 per cent) said they take a ‘risk-based approach’ to deciding which potholes to fix and how quickly.

However, what this risk-based approach entails is unknown, as none of the 76 authorities provided much information to explain their decision making.

Incredibly, three-in-10 councils (29 per cent) don’t state any public criteria for repairing potholes.

Potholes will often simply left to get bigger before they are deemed large enough by the elusive criteria to merit repair.

Among the 35 per cent of councils (71) that say they’ll only act on potholes if they meet certain barometers – the most common depth stated is 4cm (by 54 councils).

In the first nine months of 2024, the AA attended almost half a million pothole-related breakdowns. It is unsurprising to learn that compensation claims for damage to vehicles is doubling year-on-year

How much do pothole-related repairs cost drivers?

In the first nine months of 2024, the AA said it had attended almost half a million pothole-related breakdowns in the first nine months of 2024.

Therefore, it’s somewhat unsurprising to learn that motorists have made twice as many pothole compensation claims last year – however, most councils have been rejecting them.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the RAC earlier this year found that pothole compensation claims made to 18 local authorities with the longest road networks in Britain more than doubled in the 12 months between 2022 and 2023.

In bad news for fed-up motorists, the chances of making a successful claim for pothole compensation are slim – 76 per cent of councils refused more than three-quarters of claims they received last year.

Councils paid out just 15 per cent of all compensation claims received in 2023.

The AIA puts the total bill for pothole-related compensation claims in England and Wales at £15.2 million. 

Labour’s pre-election number crunching put the average pothole repair charge for a driver at £250. 

This is Money’s five-step guide to making pothole compensation claims

1. Collect the evidence

If you’re a motorist looking to make a claim for a repair bill for pothole-related damage, or a cyclist putting in a damage or personal injury claim after hitting one in the road, the first port of call is to make a note of where the pothole is located, the time and date of the incident, and take a photo of the pothole.

A pothole needs to be at least 2 inches deep to be deemed a pothole in the eyes of councils. 

And it’s not just the depth and size of the pothole that councils will try to use to refuse paying out compensation.

Local authorities may defend a claim if they successfully argue that the pothole was not an obvious hazard – or if they were unaware of it, despite having in place a reasonable system of inspection and repair.

To improve your chances of a successful claim, it will help to demonstrate whether the pothole was an obvious danger or not. 

Where possible, take photos at the scene, just in case the council repairs the pothole before you can return to take them.

If you didn’t do this at the time of the incident, you can return to the scene to take pictures.

You should also take a photos of the damage the pothole has caused to your vehicle (or person, if you have been injured). 

If possible, take your car to a garage and ask for a mechanic’s report in writing for the projected cost to fix the issue caused – or if your motor isn’t drivable, phone a reputable repair centre and request a quote. 

2. Work out who is to blame

To make a claim for compensation, first you need to know who should pay out. 

If the pothole is on a motorway or main trunk road, the chances are it is a National Highways (formerly Highways England) problem. 

For local roads, you will need to research which council is responsible.

Once you’ve identified the party you need to contact, request a copy of highway maintenance schedules and number of reported incidents on the particular road for the previous 14 days as evidence that the road hasn’t been properly maintained or a reported pothole hasn’t been addressed. 

3. Make the claim

You’ll need to issue a formal claim to the local authority or National Highways and most responsible parties will have a template you can request from them. 

4. What to do if you do – or don’t – get a compensation offer

After making the claim, you should be notified if compensation is being granted. 

Though you can still reject the value of the offer if you believe it isn’t sufficient, especially if you have evidence that the pothole had already been reported but the responsible party had not acted to rectify it.

If the council refuses compensation, you can seek legal advice or make a case through the courts. 

However, a word of warning that this could be a time-consuming process and is likely to be worthwhile only if the repair bill is considerable. 

5. Final option: Make a claim through your insurance

If you have comprehensive cover, you can claim for pothole damage on your insurance policy. 

However, it’s worth considering the cost of the damage as well as your excess payments and if this action will affect your No Claims Bonus.