MPs and road experts unite to address pothole woes
April 24, 2025 by Siobhan Doyle
Car changing is a big deal
The RAC hosted a first-of-its-kind event bringing together MPs and road industry experts to address the ongoing pothole crisis that’s wreaking havoc on UK roads.
Top road industry leaders from the RSTA, IHE, AIA, and REA joined forces to deliver powerful insights to around 70 MPs and peers at a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind event hosted by the RAC – uniting politics and expertise to tackle the UK’s road maintenance crisis head-on.
The event at Westminster aimed to equip MPs with practical advice on how councils can make the most of their existing funding to maintain their road networks more effectively.
Alongside expert guidance, MPs were given access to the latest constituency-level data on road conditions and maintenance activity. This included details on both preservation treatments and full resurfacing efforts, giving them a clear picture of the state of roads in their areas.
The event was designed to give MPs the evidence and insights needed to support a smarter, more proactive approach to road maintenance – especially timely as councils receive a record £1.6bn in government funding this financial year.
“We’ve long called for councils to break free from the costly cycle of patching potholes and instead take a proactive approach to road maintenance,” said Simon Williams, RAC’s head of policy. “Timely interventions – such as surface dressing on roads in good condition and resurfacing those beyond repair – are the real solution to ending the UK’s pothole problem.”
Williams added that it was “incredibly encouraging” that MPs and peers are now hearing directly from the industry about what works. “We were especially pleased to see Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood attend and engage with the strategies being put forward.”
Local councils are under pressure to publish data showing how many potholes they’ve mended or risk losing their share of an extra £500m set aside for road repairs. The latest ALARM survey by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) also found that despite years of repairs, the backlog of road maintenance has now reached nearly £17bn.
In their election manifesto, the Labour government promised to give councils multi-year funding settlements for local roads as part of plans to fill an extra “one million potholes across England”.
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