Councils are calling for the tax revenue raised by fuel duty to be ring-fenced and used to fix potholes dotted around the UK’s council-maintained roads.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local authorities across Britain, says investing just 2p per litre would be enough to bring the country’s roads up to scratch. However, the LGA is keen to stress that the government should not raise the funds by increasing duty.
Figures compiled by the LGA show that the overall pothole repair figure in Britain hit £11.8 billion last year. If it continues to swell at the current rate, the bill for repairs will be more than £14 billion by 2019.
If this happens, the cost of repairing the nation’s council-maintained roads will be more than three times the available highway budget. While councils fix an estimated two million potholes every year, the average repair time for potholes has risen from 10.9 years in 2006 to 14 years in 2016.
It’s estimated that English authorities would have to spend £69 million each if they were to repair all their roads at once.
LGA transport spokesman, Councillor Martin Tett, said: “It is wrong and unfair that the government allocates almost 40 times more to maintaining national roads, which it controls, compared with local roads, which are overseen by councils. It is paramount this funding discrepancy is swiftly plugged.
“Motorists pay billions to the Treasury each year in fuel duty when they fill up their car at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying after decades of underfunding. They deserve roads fit for the 21st century.”
