Recent data shows that the backlog of carriageway repairs in England and Wales has reached new heights at almost £17 billion – the highest figure in 30 years of reporting.
According to the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report, which provides insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance, roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 93 years.
In response Councillor Mark Goldsmith, Chair of Cheshire East Council's Highways and Transport Committee said "It's clear our roads have taken a hammering this winter. The prolonged icy weather has caused a huge number of potholes to appear very quickly. Last week we filled 4,500* potholes to keep our roads safe and we expect to fill 60,000 this year. That compares to 37,000 last year.
"However, this growing number just highlights how our roads are failing. Pothole repairs may keep roads safe, but they are only a short-term fix. We need a long-term solution and that means spending more money on resurfacing them. But this needs a level of investment that councils cannot afford, even though it would save money over the long-term."
Earlier this month, Cheshire East Council hit back following reports in a national newspaper that Cheshire East Council is the worst in the UK for potholes.
Analysis by Tempcover, which was based on data from FixMyStreet.com, showed that Cheshire East Council topped the list with 17,191 open pothole reports, with the oldest reported in March 2020.
On March 6th 2025, Councillor Mark Goldsmith said: "Thankfully, Cheshire East does not have 17,197 potholes as incorrectly reported in a recent national newspaper. Instead, at the time of this article appearing, we had 550* defects. This is across a network of almost 1,680 miles (2,700kms).
"Last year, we fixed over 35,000 potholes, and the 550 represent a normal number that we could expect to be assessing."
* Unless I have misunderstood, the figures quoted are conflicting so I have asked Cheshire East Council for clariifcartion.
Continuing his response to the ALARM Report Councillor Mark Goldsmith added "For decades, successive governments have passed less than 4p in every £1 paid by motorists in road taxes onto councils to maintain them. It's been far too little, for far too long and now it shows.
"The scale of this national problem was identified in the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey that was published this week. It said there are almost £17bn worth of potholes across the UK. This is more than 10 times the annual amount government gives local councils for road maintenance. Current levels of funding are just not enough. The 2,100 miles of motorway that the Government maintains gets a similar level of funding as the 250,000 miles of local roads councils look after.
"Too much tax has been diverted away from local roads, and it is unrealistic and unfair for council tax to be expected to replace it. Therefore, the new government needs to urgently commit to funding a national investment programme to resurface our local roads."
Comments
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If someone is going to invent fantasy numbers they should at least try to keep the story consistent, although personally I wouldn't trust either of those figures.
But Cllr Goldsmith is correct when he says pothole filling isn't the real solution and a camgaign of resurfacing is required, sadly that's another thing tax payers would have to fund since all money both locally and nationally is ours one way or another.
To go on record saying they did not have 17,197 potholes as incorrectly reported in a recent national newspaper, and that they only had a 'perfectly acceptable' 550 defects....and then a week later claim to have fixed 4,500 potholes IN A WEEK??
How can a public servant lie so blatantly and not face consequences?