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Lancashire is to get an extra £14m for road repairs as part of a government drive to tackle potholes.
The additional cash – made up of £12.3m for Lancashire County Council, £994K for Blackburn with Darwen Council and £609K for Blackpool Council – is the county’s share of a £500m injection announced by the Department for Transport this week.
Although presented as a plan for potholes, the new funding is being added to local authorities’ highways maintenance budgets, meaning it can be used for a raft of road upgrades, including the replacement of traffic lights and streetlamps.
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It will take government funding for the 4,000 miles of road in the county council area to £46.8m in 2025/26 and follows an extra £4.2m poured in by the authority itself last month from an underspend in its capital budget – £2.5m of which will be used for patching up areas where multiple potholes have appeared, with the rest earmarked for drainage works.
The combined increases take County Hall’s highways maintenance budget close to the £51.2m minimum that the authority has previously said it would need in order to manage all of its highways assets to a “sustainable” level. However, as the funding boosts are both one-offs, that goal is likely to be within reach for one year only.
The county council also recently declared that it would need over £160m to bring all of Lancashire’s roads into “good condition” – £110m more than it will have at its disposal next year.
At a meeting earlier this month – before the government funding increase was announced – county councillors clashed over the authority’s pothole-filling performance.
Labour opposition group member John Fillis – who was the cabinet member in charge of the roads during the party’s last period in control at County Hall between 2013 and 2017 – said Lancashire had recently been rated as “one of the worst places in the country for potholes compared to other county councils”.
“When we had a Labour administration, the Conservative government identified Lancashire as being in the top three for fixing potholes – how far we have fallen since then,” County Cllr Fillis added.
However, Alan Vincent – deputy leader of the Conservative-run authority – rubbished the analysis and claimed the county council had become a victim of its own success after introducing an app via which the public could register road defects.
“We have made it much easier than it is in other areas to actually report faults…which other [places] do not do,” County Cllr Vincent said.
“So the figures being quoted by John Fillis are…not comparing like for like and that’s why we’re near the top of the table – not because we’re bad at it, [but] because we’re actually very good at it.
“We spend a lot more than other people do, because we don’t waste money.”
Lancashire County Council also consistently received “incentive” highways funding from the government – a cash top-up for those councils deemed to be using their maintenance cash wisely – for the eight years that the scheme was in operation until it ended last year.
A quarter of the additional funding announced this week will be withheld until local authorities can prove that they are meeting various government criteria for how they operate, which will be shared with them in the coming weeks.
Although the county council has recently championed the success of new techniques for pothole-filling – including a method involving the use of recycled tyres – it has also just advertised a £60m, four-year contract for what it describes as “traditional surfacing methods” such as machine and hand patching.
Speaking about the extra government cash coming Lancashire’s way next year, county council cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick said: “We know that improving our roads is a top priority for Lancashire’s residents and businesses – and this additional funding will help us to continue to keep our roads in the best possible condition.
“We absolutely understand that potholes are a major concern for all road users, which is why we already identify the areas where our teams are often called to fix potholes and why we are also investing more in schemes to address these areas. We also encourage anyone with any highways concerns to report them to us.
“We welcome this additional funding, as it will help us to plan effectively, making our roads and highways network stronger and safer.”
‘Better roads will boost the economy’
In Blackpool, the cash increase from the government will take Whitehall funding for highways maintenance to almost £2.4m in 2025/26.
Paula Burdess, cabinet member for community safety, street scene and neighbourhoods at Blackpool Council, said she was “delighted” by an increase which she claimed would bring more benefits than just less bumpy journeys.
“This funding, including baseline support and a much welcomed uplift, is vital for maintaining and improving our highways and associated infrastructure.
“For a town like Blackpool, our roads, pavements, and cycleways are lifelines for residents, visitors and businesses. This funding will enable us to enhance our efforts in tackling key issues such as resurfacing roads, repairing potholes, maintaining cycleways and more.
“These improvements will not only enhance road safety, it will play a part in supporting economic growth by ensuring that our infrastructure meets the needs of our growing community.
“I am particularly pleased that part of the funding is contingent on demonstrating best practices in highway maintenance. Blackpool has a strong track record of innovation and efficiency – and this funding will allow us to build on that success while working towards a more sustainable and resilient transport network,” Cllr Burdess said.
Blackburn with Darwen Council will receive a total of £3.8m net in government cash for highways maintenance next year. The authority was approached for comment.
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