Councils receive share of £500m to fill potholes

The Department for Transport (DfT) has allocated £500 million to local authorities in England for highways maintenance. 

With the average pothole costing around £50 to fill in, the funding could fix the equivalent of 10 million potholes across the country, says the DfT. 

It is the second instalment from the £2.5 billion Potholes Fund, providing £500 million a year between 2020/21 and 2024/25, announced by the Chancellor in the 2020 Budget – and is part of wider funding the DfT provides for road maintenance, totalling over £1.1bn across England in 2021/22.  

Transport minister Baroness Vere said: “We know potholes are more than just a nuisance – they can be dangerous to drivers and cyclists alike, and cause damage to thousands of vehicles every year.

“The funding allocated today will help councils ensure roads in their area are kept up to standard, and that the potholes that blight road users can be dealt with promptly.” 

The DfT has previously allocated £296m through the Pothole Action Fund, which ran from 2015/16 to 2020/21. 

This latest funding announcement comes after the RAC revealed its patrols attended almost 1,500 call outs in the last three months of 2020 for pothole related breakdowns, despite reduced traffic volumes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Analysis of fourth quarter RAC breakdowns revealed there were 1,461 call outs for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels reveals, representing nearly 1% (0.9%) of all RAC attendances.

While the pothole proportion of all RAC breakdowns was down on the previous quarter, it was identical to the same period in 2019 and slightly higher than 2018 (0.8%).

The RAC said this is concerning given the lower traffic volumes brought about by coronavirus travel restrictions as in theory, less traffic should mean less damage to road surfaces.

Regional breakdowns of funding for the £500m from the Pothole Fund for 2021/22 

Regions                                                  Amount