Budget was another missed opportunity for local roads

 Commenting on today’s Budget, AIA Chair David Giles said: “The Chancellor’s Budget speech today had little in terms of hope for local roads and was another lost opportunity to tackle the resilience issues that are all too evident to road users.

“The DfT reported last week that record funding produced record results with nearly 7,000 miles of road resurfacing taking place this year[1]. While any improvement is a step in the right direction, this only equates to 3% of the 204,000 miles of local roads in England and Wales, almost half of which our 2026 ALARM survey reports are classified to have less than 15 years structural life remaining[2].

“More still needs to be done – and quickly – if we are going to end the pothole patch and mend cycle that has been a fixture for far too long.

“Local roads are the lifeblood of our society. They carry the goods and services to support a thriving, modern economy and help keep communities connected. Yet, despite the vital role they play, local authorities in England and Wales are facing a record £18.62 billion[3] backlog of carriageway repairs.

“We understand that the challenges the Chancellor has but today’s Budget was another missed opportunity. Given the Government’s repeated public commitment to improving the condition of our local roads, we were hopeful that our calls for additional and sustained funding would be heard.

“In our submission to HM Treasury ahead of this Budget we set out the case for investing in our local roads to help tackle the repair backlog as well as the return on doing so, which the DfT identifies as being as much as £9.10 for each additional £1 invested[4].

“We suggested a re-phasing of the Government’s £7.3 billion allocation to 2030 to release more of the capital funding sooner, which would have provided noticeable benefits for road users while supporting the supply chain, securing jobs, driving the economy and saving taxpayers’ money in the long run.

“We also called for a commitment to ongoing, rolling five-year funding horizons to allow local authorities to plan ahead and deliver lasting improvements, while driving greater costs and environmental efficiencies.

“All of these measure would help put an end to the short-term patch and mend cycle that frustrates all road users, wastes public money and allows the condition of our local roads to deteriorate even further.”

[1] Record funding, record results: 7,000 miles of smoother journeys as government tackles potholes – GOV.UK

[2] https://www.asphaltuk.org/wp-content/uploads/ALARM-Survey-2026.pdf, pages 18-19

^[3] AIA ALARM survey 2026: https://www.asphaltuk.org/alarm-survey-page/

[4] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-appraisal-for-investing-in-local-highways-maintenance page 37