Two road safety bodies have urged the government to make pothole prevention training compulsory for local councils. This comes amid the country’s ever-worsening pothole backlog, as road conditions remain in a state of crisis.
The RAC and the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) made the calls as part of this year’s Pothole Prevention Week, which ran last week (8-14 September). They argue that mandatory training would help councils better understand the benefits of low-cost preventative measures.
It follows the news that over a third (36%) of English local authorities carried out no preventative maintenance on B, C and unclassified roads in the 2023/24 financial year, according to RAC analysis of government data. In addition, half did none of this work on A roads over the same period.
The RSTA warned that many authorities are simply ignoring preventative measures that can protect against issues on new road surfaces for five years after they are laid.
Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said: “The ‘reactive only’ maintenance approach, which so many local authorities rely on is particularly expensive, as it means only a small proportion of the road network is actually being treated. This has very clearly contributed to the situation we are in today, with large volumes of potholes and roads in poor condition.
“The Government has already taken on board our joint calls about preventative maintenance by asking councils to report how much of this work they have done and are planning to do. A logical next step is requiring mandatory training for authorities that have carried out little or no preventative maintenance to fully understand its benefits.”
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