Councils given millions to fix potholes in their areas

Last night the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that the first tranche of government’s £2.5bn pothole fund, first announced earlier this year, is being distributed to councils.

The government has now published councils’ allocations of the fund, and CCN member councils have been given 72% of the total funding pot. Earlier this year CCN released research which showed that county motorists were the ‘poor relation’ to residents in other parts of the country. You can read it here.

The CCN figures showed that the 36 shire counties in the analysis were able to spend £20,885 per mile on road repairs, pothole filling, and constructing new junctions and networks last year. In contrast, the 31 councils in London are able to spend £62,350 per mile. The 36 urban metropolitan councils spent £41,929 per mile, while England’s eight ‘core cities’ are in a position to invest £57,241 per mile.

Below, the network responds to the allocations.

Cllr David Williams, chairman of the County Councils Network, said:

“The County Councils Network’s research earlier this year showed that county motorists were the poor relation of urban residents, with councils in London and the major cities able to spend three times more per mile of road compared to rural councils, due to funding being prioritised to those locations.

“Therefore, we strongly welcome the government taking our pleas for a fair share of its pothole fund on board, with our councils receiving 73% of the new pothole funding announced. This recognises that our member councils are responsible for almost three quarters of England’s local roads, with 10,000 miles of county roads in need of repairs either urgently or in the near future. We look forward to utilising this money as far as possible to help support the economic recovery from Coronavirus.”