Road users should not expect a quick fix to the condition of local roads, despite a reported increase in funding, says this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report.
The data has revealed that local authorities in England and Wales face a record £18.62 billion backlog of carriageway repairs that would take 12 years to clear, despite an increase in funding. Additional investment from both central government and local authority’s own sources has led to a 17% increase in average highway maintenance budgets in England and Wales, yet only a marginal increase in conditions have been reported.
Local authority highway engineers said that they are cautiously optimistic that the increased funding announced by the Government, supplemented by their own coffers, should help them stem further decline. However, it is not the silver bullet that will enable them to clear the backlog of repairs any time soon.
Only half (51%) of the local road network is reported to be in good structural condition. However, almost one in six (16%) local roads equivalent to over 32,500 miles – is reported to have less than five years’ structural life remaining.
“I think all road users would agree that the condition of our local roads has become a national disgrace,” said David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which commissions the ALARM survey. “Tracking ALARM data over the last decade shows the amount needed to bring local roads up to scratch has increased dramatically, and the impact of frequent adverse weather events on a consistently underfunded – and increasingly fragile – network are coming home to roost.”
Findings of ALARM 2026, which relate to the 2025/26 financial year, show that in England and Wales:
• Local authorities would have needed, on average, an extra £8.1 million each last year to maintain their network to their own target conditions and prevent further decline.
• £18.62 billion is now reported to be required, as a one-off, for local authorities to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions.
• If this backlog of repairs was cleared, the amount local authorities would need to maintain their roads in a steady state would be £1 billion less a year every year going forward. Funds that could usefully be redeployed elsewhere.
• Just over 100,000 miles (49%) of the local road network is now reported to have less than 15 years’ structural life remaining. Roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 97 years.
• 1.9 million potholes were filled over the last year – the equivalent of more than 5,200 every day of the year.
AA President, Edmund King OBE, said:
“The ALARM 2026 report starkly warns us how much more needs to be done to eradicate this plague of potholes. We have been seeing with our own eyes, and feeling with our wheels, how record wet weather linked to substandard roads has led to many local roads becoming patchwork obstacle courses.
“The AA has been called out to 137,000 pothole-related incidents in the UK in January and February this year – 25,000 up on last year. Extra funding needs to be maintained and spent on more permanent repairs to prevent extensive vehicle damage and potentially fatal injuries to those on two wheels.”
RAC Head of Policy, Simon Williams, commented:
“As drivers testify, decades of underinvestment have left many roads in a woeful state of disrepair – something that’s been even more noticeable since the beginning of the year with our teams receiving hundreds of breakdown reports every day mentioning potholes.
“We hope new record levels of funding from central Government and a commitment to longer term investment that allow councils to plan highways maintenance will mean we start to turn a corner – although it will be some time before drivers notice a real difference. “The path to better roads isn’t complicated: ensure water always drains off the roads, fix potholes as permanently as possible, seal roads against water ingress through preventative maintenance, and resurface those that have gone beyond the point of no return.”
(Picture: FM Conway)
