Councils warned they could lose millions in funding if they fail to fix potholes

By SOPHIE CHURCH - POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 00:01, 14 April 2026 | Updated: 00:18, 14 April 2026 Councils risk losing up to a third of their funding if they neglect to fix potholes in local areas. Under new rules announced on Tuesday, councils across England could lose £525 million from their £1.6 billion budget for the following year if they cannot prove they are filling in potholes. Councils will also be ordered to publish reports proving they are spending their allotted highway budgets on patching up roads, as well as long-term plans for road maintenance. This follows the Government bringing in a traffic light grading system for local highway authorities to assess the state of their roads – with red-rated authorities receiving more cash to deliver smoother roads. Labour will furnish the 13 red-rated areas with £300,000 worth of expert support to help councils fix roads. With Labour facing a hammering at next month's local elections, roads and buses minister Simon Lightwood said the Government is 'making sure every pound goes straight into fixing roads and tackling potholes, not being spent elsewhere'. This follows the Government pledging £7.3 billion to repairing Britain's roads, with funding delivered to local councils over a four-year period. But Richard Holden, shadow transport secretary, said that Labour councils have been 'failing drivers for years'.  Under new rules announced today, councils across England could lose £525 million from their £1.6 billion budget for the following year if they cannot prove they are filling in potholes The Conservatives have vowed to supply specialist road-repair machines to councils across the country – and set up a single national platform for drivers to report potholes, instead of the current patchwork of local sites He said: 'Ten of the sixteen worst-performing councils on pothole repairs are Labour-run. In Birmingham, 2.5 per cent of roads needing repair were fixed; in St Helens, Islington, and Milton Keynes, the story is the same.  'Labour have lumped cost after cost onto drivers – the fuel duty rise, pay per mile, or new parking taxes – yet people see no improvement in the roads they rely on every day.' The Conservatives have vowed to supply specialist road-repair machines to councils across the country – and set up a single national platform for drivers to report potholes, instead of the current patchwork of local sites. The Daily Mail has been campaigning for an end to the pothole plague, which is costing drivers millions in repair bills. Last week, this paper revealed that potholes are threatening the delivery of urgent medical supplies such as overnight blood donations. And the Mail has also found that motorists have been increasingly attacking workmen trying to fix roads as anger mounts over Britain's record £19 billion pothole backlog. Workers are being sworn at, spat at and even punched amid growing delays in fixing potholes, industry leaders have warned. Pothole damage costs the average driver around £500 in repairs, with the number of insurance claims to fix vehicles soaring in recent months. Tesco Insurance, for example, settled 12 per cent more pothole damage claims in January 2026 than in the entire second half of 2025. And it was estimated last month that the cost of fixing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales had risen to a record £18.6 billion. Edmund King, AA president, said that fixing potholes remains 'the number one motoring issue for drivers' and that it is 'right that councils are being scrutinised over their repair plans'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.