Keir Starmer pledges £4.8 billion to tackle UK's pothole crisis
- Sir Keir Starmer has mandated local councils to prove they are effectively tackling pothole issues or risk losing repair funding.
- The UK's pothole repair backlog has reached £17 billion, with Derbyshire identified as the area most affected.
- The government's new funding aims to encourage proactive solutions to road repairs and tackle the growing crisis.
In March 2025, Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, urged local councils to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the ongoing pothole crisis or potentially risk losing the funding needed for repairs. This announcement came amidst growing concerns over the increasing number of potholes throughout the UK, with the repair backlog now reaching £17 billion as reported by the Local Government Association (LGA). Starmer stated that councils will have to submit annual progress reports to prove they are using allocated funds effectively. The primary areas affected include Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland, with hundreds of thousands of potholes reported. The LGA confirmed that councils are already spending more than their central government funding on repairs, emphasizing the need for long-term funding solutions to effectively manage the crisis. Starmer's administration, backed by new technology and AI, hopes to provide a different approach to addressing this long-standing issue, aiming for a more proactive strategy to prevent pothole damage rather than simply reactive repairs. This initiative is seen as essential, particularly with predictions of wetter winters exacerbating road conditions, highlighting the government's commitment to improving local infrastructure and supporting communities in addressing this urgent issue.