Westminster pledges an end to ‘patch and dash’
Summary
A move has been made by Westminster today that could help to ease the pothole-induced headaches of Gloucestershire’s drivers. New government rules will require authorities, including Gloucestershire County Council ‘s Highways team, to reveal exactly how well they repair their roads – thereby letting the public hold the authority to closer account.
Details
Long-term preventative repairs will also be prioritised over costly ‘patch up’ fixes in a bid to save motorists hundreds of pounds a year on pothole-related repairs. To ensure compliance, councils that fail to publish their reports will have nearly a third of this year’s highways maintenance funding withheld.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “Councils must prove they are doing more to fix potholes and future-proof roads under tough new reporting requirements issued by the government today.” The change means that councils will need to demonstrate publicly how well they repair their roads and what they are doing to avoid repeat visits to the same stretch of asphalt – encouraging full road resurfacing, preventing potholes and an end to short-term patch fixes.
The first consequent reports on how well they are doing will be published in September.
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In what it refers to as a “pothole plague” in England, the government said it has given local authorities a record £7.3bn in long-term road funding to help turn the tide and its new guidance will update the former the red/amber/green (RAG) ratings first published by the government earlier this year, showing what progress councils have made.
Green rated local authorities were able to demonstrate they are following best practice, such as investing in long-term pothole prevention and full road resurfacing, rather than just patching up potholes. If councils do not follow this new guidance, or fail to publish their reports on time, they will have almost a third of this year’s funding held back to ensure they are transparent with taxpayers.
Simon Lightwood, Roads and Buses Minister, said: “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.” Pothole related damage costs an average of £500, the Department calculates, with the cost also being felt by emergency services and organ donation charities, with some forced to shell out thousands of pounds every year to fix their life-saving vehicles.
Today’s announcement follows action taken in April when it was announced that new measures will see up to a third of the £1.6bn in highways funding (£524m) for local authorities will be withdrawn unless they can prove they are meeting strict requirements.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester