Only 3% of England’s 183,054-mile council-managed road network received any maintenance in the 2023/24 financial year, according to new government data analysed by the RAC.
A total of 4,894 miles were either strengthened, resurfaced or treated with life-extending preservation methods – an 18% increase on the previous year, but still 35% below 2017/18 levels, when 7,510 miles were maintained.
Just 5% of A roads received any form of maintenance in the last year, with 817 miles treated out of a total 17,860. The figure is down by a third on 2017/18. Maintenance on minor roads fared even worse, with just 2% (4,080 miles) receiving work.
Half of England’s 152 councils carried out no preservation work at all on A roads in the last financial year. More than a third also failed to do any preventative maintenance on B, C or unclassified roads, a rise from 28% six years ago.
Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said: “It’s good to see an increase in the amount of road maintenance being carried out by councils from the previous financial year, but that’s hardly great progress given the 2022/23 figure was a five-year low. And it remains the case that still only a slither of England’s total road network is getting any maintenance attention whatsoever. This reinforces our belief that most councils are in a cycle of merely filling potholes, rather than looking after their roads properly.
“The bigger picture is far more concerning because it still shows a significant decline in the proportion of our roads strengthened, resurfaced or preserved compared to six years ago. As the Government has just given councils a record amount of funding to look after their roads, we hope to see a significant improvement in the quality of road surfaces due to the extra maintenance they will be able to carry out in the next 12 months.”
He added: “We encourage local authorities to focus on permanent solutions rather than trying to patch pothole-ridden roads that are beyond saving. This might include resurfacing or alternatives such as recycling existing materials in-situ. Surface dressing roads in better condition is also important as it ensures they stay that way for longer.”
Mike Hansford, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association, said: “Preventative road surface treatments offer councils a cost-effective and lower-carbon approach to managing road assets through their lifecycle. If you invested in most other assets, you would invest in periodic treatments to keep that asset in good condition to achieve optimum performance. An asphalt road should be no different. This preventative maintenance approach results in roads being kept in good condition for longer, reduces future pothole formation, and allows local authorities to treat more of their road networks.”
Despite some increases in preventative maintenance – including a 23% year-on-year rise in total miles treated – the overall proportion of roads receiving proactive work remains low. Councils resurfaced just 1,242 miles of roads in total last year, up just 2% on 2022/23.
Regionally, Gloucestershire County Council resurfaced the highest number of A road miles (24), while Staffordshire led in preservation work. Surrey resurfaced the most minor roads (50 miles), and Norfolk topped the list for minor road preservation, treating 302 miles of its 5,586-mile network.
The data follows a £1.6bn Government allocation to councils for pothole repairs, the largest single road maintenance settlement to date.
The RAC noted a 20% rise in pothole-related breakdowns in the last three months of 2024, underlining the ongoing impact of underinvestment in long-term road care.
