Highways Asset Management
Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey 2025
Results of the 2025 ALARM survey are provided in the report below.
Industry comments
RAC Head of Policy, Simon Williams:
"Once again, these figures paint a bleak picture of the state of the nation's roads and confirm what a majority of drivers have known for a long time – that in far too many parts of the country, road surfaces are simply not fit-for-purpose.
"The lack of investment in our roads is a false economy as it just leads to bigger repair costs in the future – something local authorities can ill-afford. In the meantime, all road users continue to pay the price with uncomfortable journeys, avoidable breakdowns and repair bills that they only incur because potholes are so bad.
"We're committed to working closely with the road maintenance sector, including the AIA, to get the message to government that councils need to have certainty of resources to look after one of their most valuable assets – the roads millions of us use every day."
Local Government Association Transport Spokesperson, Cllr Adam Hug:
"It is no surprise to councils that the local roads repair backlog continues to rise, given inflation and huge demand pressures on local government statutory services.
"The funding increase in the last Budget was positive and must now be followed by a commitment in the Spending Review to a long-term financial package to tackle this backlog and put it into reverse.
"Investing in local roads now makes them more resilient and last longer, with direct benefits to road users, business, wider society and the environment.
"Councils have long called for a five-year funded package for maintaining our local roads, ensuring they are treated on a par with our motorways and major trunk roads, which is supported by this latest report."
AA President, Edmund King:
"A dismal 'two steps forward, three steps back' picture of the UK's pothole plague has emerged in ALARM's latest report. The UK is nowhere close to getting out of this rut.
"However, pothole-related breakdowns recorded by the AA, the UK's biggest motoring organisation, showed a very slight year-on-year dip in incidents. While that doesn't guarantee that the UK has turned a corner, it offers some hope that increased funding will eventually make a difference.
"Unfortunately, ALARM's increasing £17 billion backlog of road repairs once again underlines the size of the task ahead."
Motorcycle Action Group Director of Campaigns and Political Engagement, Colin Brown:
"The ongoing deterioration of local roads is increasingly a question of life or death for far too many motorcyclists.
"The Motorcycle Action Group fully endorses the recommendations made in this year's Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report. We too want to see a substantial
LCRIG CEO, Paula Claytonsmith:
"This year's ALARM survey results once again expose the stark consequences of years of sustained underinvestment, extreme weather and rising traffic – pushing the UK's roads into a state of accelerating decline.
"Our research makes it clear: short-term funding and ad hoc funding pots is trapping the sector in a cycle of reactive fixes, stifling innovation and leading to outdated maintenance strategies that ultimately cost the economy more in the long run. Without bold, long-term financial assurances for councils, the situation will only worsen."
Institute of Highway Engineers Chief Executive, Lyle Andrew:
"This year's ALARM findings continue to highlight the ongoing challenges faced in maintaining the local road network. Budget cuts of 4.1% in real terms, has led to the continuing deterioration of what is our most valuable asset.
"Short-term funding allocations have failed to provide the necessary improvements required to uphold network resilience. It is clear that the only viable option is long-term investment in order for local authorities to carry out essential works to the local roads.
"With the spending review set to conclude this spring, the reported £16.8 billion one-off payment would take 12 years to complete, to adequately prevent further deterioration of the road network and aid in a solution to the growing pothole issue. However, with 52% of local roads now having less than 15 years' structural life remaining, this continued shortfall in funding risks worsening surface failures and network decline."