Chancellor’s budget pothole plan draws faint praise

Labour’s budget missed the chance to deliver on the party’s pre-election pledge to deliver “multi-year funding settlements to local leaders”, which would allow local authorities to develop proper planned schedules for road maintenance.

While the party previously called for an end to the “sticking plaster” approach to fixing the UK’s pothole plague, its Chancellor Rachel Reeves has instead announced a £500 million cash injection into roads maintenance for 2025.

Announcing her budget measure in the House of Commons, Reeves told MPs: “For too long, potholes have been an all too visible reminder of our failure to invest as a nation. Today, that changes, with a £500 million-pound increase in road-maintenance budgets next year, more than delivering on our manifesto commitment to fix an additional one million potholes each year.”

The cash has been welcomed, but there’s disappointment at the lack of a long-term funding programme, with Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation charity saying: "Any money allocated to improve the shocking state of many of our local roads is welcome, but for all the talk of hundreds of millions of pounds, the country's tens of millions of drivers will only be happy when they see an improvement on the highways they use everyday, those outside their houses.

"The long-term solution is a long-term funding settlement for councils, so they can finally get on top of what has been a perennial problem," he said. 

When Auto Express polled readers about their budget wishlist, addressing the poor state of the UK’s roads was top priority, with 72 per cent of readers demanding action. However, it’s unlikely that £500m will make much of a dent, given that the road building industry has calculated the Chancellor would need to find £16 billion to bring all our tarmac up to scratch.