The funding reality

£1.6bn local highways maintenance funding England, 2025/26
£7.3bn four-year local maintenance settlement England, 2026/27 to 2029/30
£18.6bn reported carriageway backlog England and Wales
Still no automatic local VED ring-fence Core model unchanged

More funding helps. It still does not fix the model.

The extra money may slow decline in some areas, but it does not wipe out the backlog and it does not answer the basic fairness question. Why are motorists forecast to pay billions in VED and fuel duty while local roads still have to fight for scraps?

The gap is still huge

Backlog

Decades of damage

Roads, drainage, signs, markings and old failed surfaces have been neglected for too long. The repair bill has already built up.

Announcement

Helpful but not enough

Extra grants are welcome, but without a ring-fenced local roads settlement the same decline can return again.

When highways are short, other services feel it

If central government does not return enough money for roads, councils have to find the difference from somewhere. That pressure does not just hit drivers. It lands across local services and communities.