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COMMENT FROM THE ASPHALT INDUSTRY ALLIANCE ON THE NEED TO INVEST IN THE LOCAL ROAD NETWORK

“Over £1 billion has been spent on chasing and filling potholes over the last decade* – what a waste. What’s needed is investment in effective road maintenance, which will improve the condition of our roads and help prevent potholes from forming in the first place.

“It’s promising that the new Government has recognised the need to ramp up spending on infrastructure in general, but this must include properly funding the maintenance of existing transport networks, such as our vital local roads, just as much as on headline grabbing new schemes.

“We’ve been calling for £1.5 billion extra per year for the next 10 years to bring local road conditions up to a level from which they can be maintained cost effectively going forward. This investment would be a really sensible allocation of part of the £100 billion five-year pot being pledged by Government and it would be really remiss if local roads, on which we all depend, were left out.”

*- based on findings of ALARM surveys 2010-2019

Rick Green, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

“We agree with the Transport Select Committee’s report and the Government’s response on the need for a long-term approach to investment in highways maintenance.

“Our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey* highlights that [in England only] there is an average annual shortfall of £4.1m per authority in highways maintenance budgets, with a £8 billion bill to fix the backlog.

“We believe that an extra £1 billion, each year for 10 years, [England only] is needed to bring road conditions up to a level from which they can be maintained cost effectively going forward. We hope those in control of the purse strings will heed the calls for a significant long-term settlement.”

Rick Green, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

* ALARM 2019 reported that local authorities need £9.8 billion (£7.97 billion, England only) to bring the network up to scratch. However, improving the network cannot be carried out on a straight-line curve – all work cannot be carried out at the same time and parts of the network will continue to deteriorate in the meantime. This is why a sustained 10-year period of additional £1.5 billion investment (£1 billion extra for England only) is needed.

It was good hear the Chancellor acknowledge the importance of infrastructure investment in his statement today and we hope that funding for local roads is prioritised by the Government when more details are shared later this Autumn.

Every journey starts or ends on a local road and they make up 98% of the road network. We rely on them every day for the distribution of goods and services and to get to work, school and hospital appointments, but our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey (ALARM) 2019 reported that the backlog of repairs is now £9.8 billion.

A long-term approach is needed to support this vital part of our infrastructure – a view supported by the Transport Select Committee’s (TSC) recent report on local roads funding and maintenance. We believe that an extra £1.5 billion per year, for 10 years, is needed to bring road conditions up to a level from which they can be maintained cost effectively going forward.

“With our own ALARM survey highlighting that there is a highway maintenance backlog of more than £9 billion, it’s no surprise that the Transport Select Committee has concluded that the local road network needs investment.

“Local roads are the lifeblood of our economy and communities and we support the Committee’s call for a significant and front-loaded five-year funding settlement for local highway maintenance. We hope the Government will heed this call in its forthcoming Spending Review.”

Rick Green, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

There are signs that an increase in local authority highway maintenance budgets is stemming the decline in the condition of the local road network, but the increased investment is still falling short of the amount needed to maintain local roads to target conditions.

This year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published today (March 26 2019) by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), reports that, for the second consecutive year, local authorities’ highway maintenance budgets have increased by almost 20%. For councils in England and London this included a share of £420 million additional funding allocated in the November 2018 Budget.

The 24th ALARM report shows there are early signs that the extra money is halting further decline, after years of underfunding have led to a local road network on the edge. However, the one-time catch-up cost to fix the network continues to rise.

Rick Green, Chairman of the AIA, said: “There are glimmers of hope but, while overall highway maintenance budgets are up, there is still a big discrepancy between the haves and have nots. Some local authorities received the equivalent of more than £90,000 per mile of their individual networks, while a third continue to struggle with reduced budgets, with several having less than £9,000 per mile to maintain their local roads.

“Achieving target conditions on all categories of local roads – those that we all rely on every day – still remains out of reach. To put this into context, if local authorities had enough funds to meet their own targets across all road types it would give us more than 20,000 miles of improved local roads.
“It is encouraging that those in control of the purse strings seem to have recognised the value that additional expenditure on roads can deliver. But it’s clear from the 29% increase in the number of potholes filled in England and London, that much of this has been used for patch and mend. This doesn’t provide value for money, nor will it improve the underlying structure and resilience of our roads.

“With the amount needed to bring the local road network up to scratch still approaching £10 billion, sustained investment over a longer timeframe is needed if we want a local road network that supports enhanced mobility, connectivity and productivity.
“Last year the AIA set out that £1.5 billion additional funding was needed for local roads each year for the next 10 years to allow them to be brought up to a condition from which they can be managed in a cost-effective way. We stand by this call.”

The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey has highlighted for many years the impact of utility reinstatements on local authorities’ carriageway maintenance budgets.
We are supportive of the DfT’s consultation on the updated Specification, including the review of an extended guarantee for repairs related to utility work, bringing them closer in line with those for road construction.
Specialists from across highway industry have contributed to the development of the revised Specification, which forms the basis of the DfT’s consultation announced today and the sector continues to invest heavily in the development of materials and technologies to enhance the durability, safety and sustainability of asphalt.

The long-range UK weather forecast suggests that there will be an early end to winter, but for local authorities dealing with the impact of last week’s cold snap on road conditions, the outlook remains gloomy.

For local highway teams, stuck in a cycle of patch and mend due to the long-term underfunding of local roads, it remains Groundhog Day – with the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) surveys showing that, over the last decade, cash-strapped local authorities have spent more than a £1 billion on simply filling in potholes.

Short-term cash injections do little to tackle the vicious circle local authority highway teams are in – where the need to mend potholes on failing roads prevents much-needed funds being used to carry out the planned, proactive road maintenance that could help prevent potholes forming in the first place.

Rick Green, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance said: “Investing in our local roads makes sound long-term economic sense but Roadfile (www.Roadusers.org), our online hub for road-related statistics, highlights that the UK is falling behind some other major EU countries when it comes to spending on local roads.

“While the additional funding announced by Government in November’s Budget, has been well received, it’s a fraction of the £1.5 billion extra a year, for ten years, that we believe is needed to bring roads back up to target conditions allowing them to be maintained in a cost-effective way in the future.”

The AIA advocates that a longer-term funding commitment to local roads would enable hard-pressed local authorities to invest to save, so that local roads can be brought up to target conditions allowing them to be maintained in a cost-effective way in the future.

It’s been a busy few months for the AIA. Our Chairman Rick Green and Directors David Giles and Malcolm Simms have been involved in numerous public affairs engagements, media interviews, and industry conferences in our efforts to keep the link between local roads funding and conditions firmly on the agenda.

In addition, the findings of our 2018 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey continue to be referenced by politicians in reviews on local road investment; including a report from the Welsh Assembly’s Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, a debate at Westminster Hall and an ongoing inquiry into local roads funding by the Transport Select Committee.

Our calls for an additional £1.5 billion per year – redirected from existing fuel duty – to be spent on local roads maintenance, formed the basis of our own submission to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry, culminating in Rick Green submitting evidence to a hearing as a witness.
We were also able to set our thinking behind the sums needed to bring the local road network up to target conditions when we met with Jesse Norman, Minister of State for the Department for Transport earlier this year, at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highways, which the AIA supports.

As we approach the end of the year, it seems that our call, and that of others in the sector, for more funding for the long-term maintenance of local roads is being heard.

The Chancellor announced an extra £420 million – to be spent by the end of April 2019 – in the Budget for local highways maintenance, plus a further £150 million for congestion hotspots, which is positive news for local authorities.

In addition, Jesse Norman has stated that he wants to go “further than the spending announced in the Budget” and “move towards a transparent and strategic five-year settlement for local highways maintenance.”

We hope that the New Year will bring more good news for local roads funding as we continue to advocate the need to get our local roads back on track.

Recent AIA activity highlights include:

• Attending an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting at the Houses of Parliament and calling for an additional £1.5 billion per year to be redirected from existing fuel duty and spent on local roads maintenance.
• AIA Chairman Rick Green being one of five witnesses at the first oral evidence session of the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into local roads funding and governance, following our earlier written submission.
• The Welsh Assembly’s Economy Infrastructure and Skills Committee report recommends prioritising local roads maintenance over the building of new roads, following the AIA’s submission to its ‘State of the Nation’s Roads’ inquiry and our meeting with Russell George AM Chair of the Committee.
• AIA Director Malcolm Simms appearing on the Points West section of The Politics Show live to speak about the state of our local roads.
• Meeting with Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald MP at an asphalt plant in his Middlesbrough constituency and using ALARM findings to highlight thinking on funding needed in the next spending round to bring the local road network up to scratch.
• Providing ALARM 2018 findings to Yasmin Qureshi MP for Westminster Hall debate on potholes and road maintenance to highlight that action needs to be taken to improve road condition.
• AIA Director David Giles making headlines in the Business Section of The Times, following an interview on road maintenance funding.
• Hosting our free annual Sharing Best Practice event for local authority highway engineers.

AIA representatives recently attended a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highways, which it supports.

The group, chaired by Sir Christopher Chope MP, welcomed speakers from Oxfordshire County Council – Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet Member for the Environment (including Transport) and Paul Fermer, Assistant Director – Infrastructure Operations.

Cllr Constance explained to the Group how Oxfordshire has implemented a forward-thinking approach to investing in roads maintenance to improve conditions and save money in the long-term.

With a cut in the roads budget of 50 per cent since 2011, Cllr Constance set out how the forecasted increase in Council Tax that will be generated as result of the planned development of 100,000 new homes has been brought forward to be spent on road improvements.

She and Paul explained that the council had determined that the managed decline approach to road maintenance, imposed by budget constraints, sat incongruously with Oxfordshire’s ambitious growth plans and aims to improve transport links within the county, such as the key A420 which services many SMEs working between Swindon and Oxford.

As a result, the council now plans to use £10 million each year from its ‘growth dividend’ derived from the increasing numbers of new homes now paying Council Tax to implement a planned preventative approach to local road maintenance.

AIA Chairman, Rick Green said: “The APPG on Highways helps to keep the importance of local roads funding on the agenda. Oxfordshire’s invest to save approach will not only improve road conditions it also makes financial sense – as planned preventative maintenance is reported to be 20 times less expensive per square metre than reactive work such as patching and mending potholes”

Full meeting minutes and Cllr Constance’s notes can be viewed here.

Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) comment re today’s budget announcement that there will be an extra £420 million for local authorities’ highway budgets in this financial year:

Please attribute quote to Rick Green, Chairman, Asphalt Industry Alliance

“The additional funds announced today will go some way towards tackling the annual shortfall local authorities have in their highway maintenance budgets[1], but remains significantly less than the £1.5 billion extra a year we believe is needed to bring local roads up to target conditions so that they can be maintained in a cost-effective way in the future.”

“Whilst today’s announcement recognises the important role local roads play in supporting the economy and keeping communities connected, it is not enough to stop the on-going decline of the local road network caused as a result of years of underfunding. Hopefully, it is a welcome first step towards sustained annual increases in local road maintenance funding.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The AIA is a partnership between the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and Eurobitume UK. It aims to increase awareness of the asphalt industry and promote the uses and benefits of asphalt to specifiers, policy makers and the general public.
• Each year the AIA commissions the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey to provide a detail picture of local road funding and maintenance issues. Now in its 23rd year, the ALARM survey is recognised as providing robust and reliable data on these issues.
  [1] ALARM 2018 reported that the total annual local authority budget shortfall in England and Wales (including London) was £555.7 million.
• The AIA’s calls for an additional £1.5 billion per annum for local roads would bring annual local road network spending to £2.6 billion – the equivalent of @£12,000 per mile of local road – still a long way behind funding levels for the Strategic Road Network (SRN).
• ALARM reports that local authorities need £9.3 billion to bring the network up to scratch. However, improving the network cannot be carried out on a straight-line curve – all work cannot be carried out at the same time and parts of the network will continue to deteriorate in the meantime. This is why a sustained 10-year period of additional £1.5 billion investment is needed.For more information please contact:
  Samantha Stagg or Madeleine Hardman, AIA press and information office:
  T: +44 (0)207 222 0136
  E: info@asphaltuk.org;
  W: www.asphaltuk.org