New pothole rules could see councils stripped of funding as road crisis reaches boiling point

Councils will be facing fresh pressure to ensure potholes are being filled and repairs made, thanks to new Government rules.

From today, June 9, 2026, councils must provide evidence that they are doing more to fix potholes and future-proof roads under new reporting requirements.

Councils will need to publicly demonstrate how well they are repairing roads for the first time, with local authorities being held to account.

Labour has argued that the new rules will encourage full road resurfacing, prevent potholes and bring to an end short-term patch fixes.

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Transparency reports will be published in September later this year, allowing everyone in England to see how well their council is tackling the scourge of potholes.

To help councils deal with pothole pressures, the Government has provided an additional £7.3billion in long-term road funding.

Guidance being published later this year will be used to update the red, amber and green ratings for 154 local highway authorities that were first unveiled in January.

In total, 13 local highway authorities were ranked as "red" in terms of road maintenance, including Bolton, Derbyshire, Greenwich, Leicestershire and Suffolk.

These were judged as not yet meeting "expected standards" based on the current state of roads, future plans and further investment.

In contrast, 16 Local highway authorities were ranked as being "green", including Coventry, Essex, Leeds, Manchester and Worcestershire.

Commenting on the rules, Simon Lightwood, Roads and Buses Minister, said: "For too long, motorists have been left incensed by short-term work being prioritised over genuine long-term repairs. Thanks to our new guidance, that changes today.

"For the first time, not only will councils need to show just how many potholes they are filling in, but what they are doing to avoid going back to fix the same pothole time and again - something which understandably infuriates drivers."

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If councils fail to publish their reports on time, they will have almost a third of the year's Government funding held back to ensure they are transparent with taxpayers.

In April, Labour confirmed new measures that will see around £524 million withheld from local authorities of the total £1.6billion unless they can prove strict requirements are being met.

All local authorities that were deemed to be "red" were given additional support by the Government, including a £300,000 investment in expert help to raise standards.

Estimates suggest that pothole-related repairs cost an average of £500, with millions of motorists facing this risk every single day.

Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, acknowledged that potholes and poor road surfaces were one of the largest issues for motorists across the UK.

He said: "Bad repairs are a waste of time and money, so it's positive the Government is prioritising long-term fixes over short-term patching and dashing.

"The poor state of Britain's roads is drivers' biggest gripe, so it's good to see a new approach being taken. Fixing potholes once and carrying out preventative maintenance that stops them forming in the first place is a big step towards improving our roads for the future."

This was echoed by Kerry Winstanley, MD of the Local Council Roads Innovation Group, who said the new guidance would help ensure councils make better decisions and support long-term solutions.

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