National Audit Office slams DfT in road report

Less than half the roads in England are in satisfactory condition and the bill to repair them has risen to £15.6bn.

This is according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), which revealed that the Department for Transport (DfT) spent more than £1.1bn on maintaining roads in 2022-23.

The majority of this funding went to filling in over 1.9 million potholes across the country.

However, the NAO and Asphalt Industry Alliance estimate that the actual cost to fix the road maintenance problem has risen from £7.6bn in 2019 to £15.6bn this year.

National Audit Office slams DfT

The report stated: “Despite their importance, the condition of local roads is declining and the backlog to return them to a good state of repair is increasing. At present DfT does not have a good enough understanding of the condition of local roads, and does not use the limited data it does have to allocate its funding as effectively as possible.

“It does not know whether the funds it allocates are delivering improvements in road condition, and has not updated its guidance to local authorities, to share good practice and help them make the most of their limited funds, for some years.”

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “While dangerous potholes clearly need to be fixed, we also feel more could be done with the funds councils are already given.

“We believe it’s imperative they carry out more preventative maintenance to stop potholes forming in the first place, rather than simply patching over the problem. That, combined with resurfacing roads that are beyond reasonable repair, is the first step to seeing a marked improvement in our vitally important local roads.