Government cuts causing “biggest ever” pothole backlog says Doncaster mayor

Mayor Ros Jones stated that real-terms funding for road maintenance has halved since 2006.

It comes after criticism from Don Valley Conservative MP Nick Fletcher last week.

In a post on X, Mr Fletcher wrote: “Delay, delay and more delay. It’s something we are all used to from [Mayor Ros Jones and South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard] but why should we accept it? Private businesses would go bust if they acted like them.

“Potholes are meant to be dealt with by the council. Government provide both Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority with a lot of money to do their job and provide a good transport network.

“We know though that all of the potholes are not being repaired. Worse still, those that are repaired are not always done properly. I have raised this with the CEO of the Council.

“I will continue to press until our roads are put back into the condition they should be.

“Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper […] points out that £19.6 billion has been given to the North from the HS2 cancellation. However it seems it’s not being used properly.”

Mr Fletcher attached a letter from Mr Harper which details an £8.3bn grant to be delivered to councils across the country for road repair.

This funding is to be delivered over a period of 11 years, with councils in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber to receive a share of £3.3 billion over this time period.

Doncaster Council’s cabinet is also set to accept £6,958,555 for five years of highways improvements from the government on Wednesday, 17 February.

This will replace a previously annual funding award of around the same figure, representing a real-terms cut in funding each year due to inflation.

An annual survey conducted by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) found that there are around 2 million potholes requiring repair across the country, the highest figure in eight years.

While highway maintenance budgets increased by an average 2.3 percent during this financial year, inflation has led to a loss in real-terms funding for these repairs.

In Doncaster, there is a funding gap of around £150 million for highways repairs.

The council was awarded around £5 million from central government specifically for these works in 2023/4.

This is the same figure that was awarded in 2010, meaning that real-terms funding has halved since 2006.

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones said: “Doncaster and councils across the country need more funding for highway maintenance. Potholes are a blight on our roads and increase costs for motorists.

“As a council we want to be able to keep all our highways in good condition, however 14 years of reductions in funding from central government to local road repair budgets have left many local authorities facing their biggest ever annual pothole repair backlog.”