Government invites bids for £168m potholes fund

12.00 | 24 April 2014 | | 2 comments

The Government is inviting local authorities to bid for a share of a £168m Pothole Fund to repair local roads and make them safer and smoother for motorists, cyclists and other road users.

As a condition of the funding, successful authorities will have to sign a pledge setting out the number of potholes they will repair by March 2015.

Patrick McLoughlin, transport secretary, said: “Potholes are a menace for all road users which is why this extra funding is provided.

“I want councils to rise to the challenge, and to reward councils who come up with new and better ways of making repairs quickly and effectively.

“With this new fund, councils will need to clearly set out the scale of the work they are doing, and local communities can have certainty that the money is being spent fixing potholes on their local roads.”

The Government says that the £168m fund is “enough to fix more than three million potholes”. It is in addition to the £10bn for local roads maintenance that the DfT is providing to councils in England between 2010 and 2021.

The guidance for the application process is now available on the GOV.UK website. Councils have until 4pm on Thursday 22 May to submit a bid to the DfT.

A track record of best practice, or proposals for innovative solutions, will be recognised as part of the bidding process.

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    I would love to know what some councils will come up with as either best practice or innovative solutions (when we are talking about repairing a pothole?)

    The only thing that I can think of is total replacement of tarmac with guess what, yes…. cobbles. Just like they have abroad in Europe.


    bob craven Lancs
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    Road maintenance is chronically and substantially underfunded. Poor road surfaces (carriageways and footways) are a serious hazard for pedestrians and two wheelers and sometimes even for cars. £168m is a drop in the repair bucket and bidding just adds to the costs and delays for local authorities.


    David Davies, London
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