Pothole funding plea for council ahead of Budget

A plea for more funding to improve local roads has been made by Swindon Borough Council (SBC) ahead of Labour's first Budget in 15 years.

The SBC budget spends 83% on Adult and Children's services leaving "a very small pot" of money for roads and other services said Councillor Chris Watts, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport.

Despite the need Mr Watts did not expect Chancellor Rachel Reeves to announce more funding for local authorities this year in her address on Wednesday.

In July, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it was “absolutely committed” to tackling the poor state of the country's roads.

A £142m roadworks backlog and a highways budget of £5m per annum were the figures reported by Mr Watts ahead of Wednesday's Budget.

This shortfall has led to SBC prioritising potholes that were an insurance risk in what Mr Watts called a "game of risk management".

Mr Watts said: "We're hoping those general settlements that have been whittled down by central government over the past 10-years will start moving in a different direction to give us more funding moving forward."

Mr Watts said the council was "trying to keep the roads going" until funding improved.

Mr Watts felt more money for councils in this Budget was unlikely because it was "too early in Parliament" for Labour to make that commitment.

He said the "mood music" was positive for announcements on funding and three year settlements for local authorities in 2025.

Despite fixing 3,882 potholes between April and September he said until funding improved, Swindon's drivers would experience "bumpy" but functioning "roads".

Around 70% of the potholes fixed by SBC were reported by its team of five Highways Inspectors who visited 522 miles (840km) of Swindon’s roads, 646 miles (1,039km) of paths/pavements and 76 miles (122km) of cycle paths at least once a year.

Part of the team is Marcia Belcher who said they relied heavily on the public to report accurate information.

"I pay my taxes same as all my colleagues, we'd all like to see lovely smooth roads but in the present day we can only do what we can do, as long as people report it (potholes) we'll get it repaired" said Ms Belcher.

In July, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it was “absolutely committed” to tackling the poor state of the country's roads.

A spokesperson said: “We’ve pledged to support local authorities to fix up to one million more potholes in England a year."