English councils risk losing up to a third of their funding to fix potholes if they fail to demonstrate they are working effectively, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.
Some £525 million of the £1.6 billion funding for local roads maintenance in the 2026/27 financial year will be held back unless authorities prove they are spending the money appropriately.
This is up from £500 million of the same amount during the previous 12 months.
Councils are required to publish reports showing they are spending all their highways cash purely on road maintenance, with long-term plans for protecting roads.
This includes having policies signed off by senior local authority members, and training for highways teams.
Roads minister Simon Lightwood said: “Drivers deserve smooth, safe journeys, and we’re making sure every pound goes straight into fixing roads and tackling potholes, not being spent elsewhere.
“We’ve made it crystal clear, that councils which fail to maintain their roads will now risk losing up to a third of their funding.
“And for the first time, we’re giving councils multi-year funding so they can plan properly and reverse a decade of decline in our roads.”
AA president Edmund King said it is “right that councils are being scrutinised over their repair plans” as he urged them to “use their funding to resurface roads rather than simply patch-up their streets”.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Ensuring money that is given to councils to improve their roads is actually spent on roads is critical, so the Government’s focus on this will be welcomed by drivers.”
It was estimated last month that the cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch had risen to a record £18.6 billion.
Earlier this month, the pothole crisis in England and Wales was branded a “national disgrace” as the cost to repair them surged to a record £18.6 billion.
A new report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) reveals that a mere 51 per cent of the local road network is currently deemed in good condition.
Despite increased investment, efforts to tackle the widespread issue of potholes have failed to deliver “noticeable improvements”, with roads, on average, only resurfaced once every 97 years.
Last year alone, a staggering 1.9 million potholes were filled across the country, highlighting the persistent challenge.
