Road users should not expect a quick fix to the condition of local roads, despite a reported increase in funding, says this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report.
Additional investment in highway maintenance, from both central government 1 and local authority sources, has yet to deliver noticeable improvements and local authorities in England and Wales now face a record £18.6 billion backlog of carriageway repairs.
Only half (51%) of the local road network is reported to be in good structural condition. However, almost one in six (16%) local roads – equivalent to over 32,500 miles – is reported to have less than five years’ structural life remaining.
“I think all road users would agree that the condition of our local roads has become a national disgrace,” said David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which commissions the ALARM survey.
“Tracking ALARM data over the last decade shows the amount needed to bring local roads up to scratch has increased dramatically, and the impact of frequent adverse weather events on a consistently underfunded – and increasingly fragile – network are coming home to roost.”
Highway maintenance budgets in England and Wales for 2025-26 are reported to have increased by 17% to an average £30.5 million per authority, with over half of that (54%) spent on the surface and structure of the road.
However, the additional amount local authorities reported they would have needed to maintain the network to their target conditions has continued to rise to £1.37 billion (up 10% on last year), likely to be compounded by the impacts of one of the wettest winters on record.
David Giles added: “Local authority highway engineers have told us they are cautiously optimistic that the increased funding announced by the Government, supplemented by their own coffers, should help them stem further decline, but it is not the silver bullet that will enable them to clear the backlog of repairs any time soon.
“It will be some time before the impact of increased funding levels, if fully delivered, will be noticed by the public. However, the dial could be moved quicker if the Government’s commitment to additional funding was frontloaded, rather than ramping up in the years to 2030.
“This would support a shift away from the seemingly endless cycle of pothole patch and repair and allow local authority highway teams to deliver necessary resurfacing and proactive programmes that prevent potholes forming in the first place to improve the experience of all road users.”
The Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) has given its reaction to the survey findings
Kerry Winstanley, Managing Director at LCRIG, said:
“The results of this year’s ALARM survey continue to show the impact of many years of underinvestment in the local road network. Multi-year funding announced last year is something the sector has been calling for and is a positive step forward for local highways authorities planning long-term preventative maintenance programmes. However, with the backlog of carriageway repairs now exceeding £18 billion, it will take increased long-term investment to bring our local roads back up to the standard communities expect.
“After one of the wettest winters on record, we are seeing how years of underinvestment have reduced the resilience of our local roads, leaving local highways authorities battling to prevent further deterioration of the network.”
The ALARM survey reports local road funding and conditions in England and Wales based on information provided directly by those responsible for the maintenance of the network. This year’s survey, the 31st, received responses from 79% of local authorities.
Findings of ALARM 2026, which relate to the 2025/26 financial year, show that in England and Wales:
- Local authorities would have needed, on average, an extra £8.1 million each last year to maintain their network to their own target conditions and prevent further decline.
- £18.62 billion is now reported to be required, as a one-off, for local authorities to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions.
- If this backlog of repairs was cleared, the amount local authorities would need to maintain their roads to a steady state would be £1 billion less a year every year going forward. Funds that could usefully be redeployed elsewhere.
- Just under half (49%) of the local road network is now reported to have less than 15 years’ structural life remaining – just over 100,000 miles.
- Roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 97 years.
- 1.9 million potholes were filled over the last year – the equivalent of more than 5,200 every day of the year.
The full ALARM survey report is available to download at: https://www.asphaltuk.org
1 The Government announced £1.6 billion in England for the 2025/26 financial year – £500 million more than the previous year – in the Autumn 2024 Budget. It subsequently pledged to allocate £7.3 billion between 2026/27 and 2029/30 in November 2025.