Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 3
2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England
Published 17 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department’s approach to funding is short-term and fragmented, hindering local authorities from planning more cost-effective work. In the last decade funding for local roads has become more complex, with the Department providing funding to local authorities via 12 different funding pots, each with differing eligibility criteria. It has largely provided funding to local authorities on an annual basis. This differs from how the Department supports the maintenance of other transport routes, such as the strategic road networks where funds are allocated on a five-year basis to enable long-term planning. The Department acknowledges that longer-term funding enables better value for money but has not taken steps to change the way it funds local roads. In addition, some of the funds have focused on specific issues, for example on repairing potholes, which are the result of poor maintenance. This short-term approach is likely to have pushed local authorities to focus more on reactive action rather than the preventative work that would offer greater value for money. recommendation a. As part of the next phase of the spending review the Department should simplify its funding to local authorities and provide more long-term certainty around the amount and duration of funding. b. The Department should make clear how it will effectively influence and monitor local road maintenance when the funding to local authorities is coming from different government departments and local authorities have more flexibility within the overall pool of money on how to prioritise spending.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England (HC 349), 17 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations, disagrees with the recommendation to revise the funding allocation method (while agreeing to review the funding formula), and gives target implementation dates for each agreed item.
- On funding allocation, the government disagrees with the recommendation but "agrees to review the funding formula"; it "cannot commit to any changes" until options are assessed for feasibility and deliverability, and the earliest any change could take effect is the start of financial year 2026-27.
- On funding certainty, the government agrees and "intends to move to multi-year funding settlements in future", and the department "intends to consolidate" local highways maintenance funding streams so authorities receive one funding line only.
- On data and responsibilities, the government agrees; the department will publish a short Gov.UK document summarising legal responsibilities (target April 2026), and has begun engagement on making reporting against PAS 2161 "a mandatory requirement in England".
- On the Code of Practice, the government agrees it should be refreshed (target September 2026) and will "consider further whether, and if so how" authorities might be required to follow best practice to qualify for funding; it says linking this to the incentive element directly is not "feasible".