To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey (2022) which reports a 23 per cent increase in the backlog of carriageway repairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle that backlog.
Answered on
30 March 2022
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. It is for each local authority to decide how best to do this.
Whilst the Government does not intervene in local highway maintenance decisions, we are providing over £2.7 billion funding for local highways maintenance for local authorities outside of London and City Region areas over the next three years. In an extremely challenging fiscal context following COVID-19, this settlement announced at Spending Review 2021 represents a funding level consistent with 2021/22 committed for three years. This will help local highway authorities plan effectively for managing their highways assets, from tackling potholes to repairing bridges and other asset defects across their local road networks.
The Department for Transport encourages good practice in local highway maintenance for all local highway authorities and endorses the UK Roads Liaison Group’s Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure.