Civils contractors today called for a step-change in how local roads in England are funded to tackle a systemic backlog of repairs and maintenance across the network.
Responding to today’s publication of a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on the Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England, Director of Operations for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) Marie-Claude Hemming said: “The local roads network in England comprises 98 per cent of all roads in England and is used by virtually all road users on a daily basis.
“And yet the network is currently in such a state of disrepair that it has been estimated it would cost north of £15 billion to fix the backlog of repairs and maintenance to bring it up to world-class standard.
“While the UK economy is in a parlous state with low growth and productivity over a period of years, nonetheless it is vital that more must be done to address our underperforming local roads network, which is a vital artery of the economy that facilitates connectivity and allows businesses to grow and trade.
“Today’s report shows the pressing need to simplify how our local roads are funded.
“The UK Government must adopt an approach that deploys targeted investment to fix underlying problems, based on certainty of funding for contractors – rather than continuing to allow local authorities to release funds on an ad hoc basis that simply papers over the cracks.
“Get it right, and we have the opportunity to address a maintenance backlog that has now grown for many years. This will not only create jobs and economic growth, but will boost connectivity for businesses and communities across the country.
“In part, such an approach must be based on improved data collection, as the Committee has highlighted – to allow government to accurately identify pinch-points on the network and to use funds as efficiently as possible.
“But it must also involve a step-change in funding that provides certainty to the supply chain, allowing our members to upskill the workforce and deploy funding efficiently, leading to better outcomes not only for the road user, but for UK plc as a whole.”
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CECA PRESS RELEASE – Step Change Needed In Local Roads Funding In England – Immed. 17 January 2025