Councils across the nation are set to face new rules for spending pothole funding, or risk losing their cash.
The Government has set out new requirements to ensure taxpayers see real improvements in road quality, with councils facing tougher rules to prove they are fixing potholes or risk losing up to a third of next year’s funding.
Councils will face new rules on how they spend funding to fix potholes and maintain local roads, as the Government sets out new requirements to ensure taxpayers see real improvements.
Under the new measures, local highway authorities which fail to demonstrate they are maintaining roads effectively could lose around a third of their £1.6billion funding for the next year.
As previously reported by Island Echo in 2025, the Isle of Wight Council received a £1.6million government investment to tackle the Island’s pothole issue. However, with the issue still at large, many have been fairly wondering where the money is going and what rules are in place to ensure that the funds are being correctly spent.
Pothole damage already costs the average driver around £500 in avoidable repairs at a time when every pound in people’s pockets matters, and the Government is determined to ease that financial burden by ensuring councils fix roads properly.
Roads and Buses Minister, Simon Lightwood, has said:
“Drivers deserve smooth, safe journeys, and we’re making sure every pound goes straight into fixing roads and tackling potholes, not being spent elsewhere.
“Potholes aren’t just an inconvenience – they cost drivers hundreds, if not more every time they cause damage to a vehicle. Fixing our roads is one of the most impactful things we can do to reduce the cost of owning and driving a car, and we’re making sure every pound goes straight into doing exactly that.
“We’ve made it crystal clear, that councils which fail to maintain their roads will now risk losing up to a third of their funding.
“And for the first time, we’re giving councils multi-year funding so they can plan properly and reverse a decade of decline in our roads.”
The changes will ensure that record investment in local roads is used as intended, with a total of £525million held back from councils across England unless they are transparent and prove they are performing.
Councils must publish reports proving they are spending all of their highways cash purely on road maintenance, showing long-term plans for looking after roads and better training for their highways teams.
These new measures mean taxpayers know exactly where their money is going and will start to see smoother roads and an end to the pothole plague.
Dont know what that picture is of, but it’s not fixing a pot hole. Pot holes seen being filled lately have been a person with a shovel from the back of a pick-up throwing “stuff” into a hole and stamping it down. Only for the “stuff” to break up a few days later and the pot hole to reappear.
It’s a photo of a company that uses proper equipment to fix pot-holes. The tarmac is blown in under pressure before being tamped down.
The Council need to face a firmer hand over the
Traffic lights at Lake, nearly 3 months and
STILL NOT WORKING!!
W.T.F. IS GOING ON!!
What the hell has that to do with Pot-holes? Unless you want speed bumps at every set of lights.
If the numpties cannot repair a set of traffic lights in
nearly 3 months, what chance have the numpties got of
repairing potholes!
They are right when they call the Island Dinosaur Isle
The island is years behind the rest of the world
China would not only manufacture a set of traffic lights
they would have them installed and working in a matter of
days.
EVERYTHING ON THE ISLAND TAKES AGWS TO GET DONE
THE ISLAND IS 3RD WORLD
Any money available goes straight into Island Roads bank account.
The PFI contract endures until 2038 and readers should “fact check” just how favourable it is for IR and much to the detriment of the residents who have to suffer their (IR) deliberate closing of roads to cause maximum disruption.
Lake and Wroxall being the latest in their vindictiveness.
Let’s hope 2038 is the end of Island Roads!