Today, 24th July 2024, the National Audit Office (NAO) has published its new report on “ The condition and maintenance of local roads in England” 

CIHT welcomes the publication of the NAO report as it highlights the need to for proper maintenance.  As we look to repurpose our road network to support sustainable transport we need to ensure that our footways, cycleways, and highways are properly maintained and help unlock wider societal benefits including improving health and wellbeing.

In the report, the NAO reference research undertaken by the UK Roads Leadership Group in 2021 that identified possible benefits from investing in local roads for individuals’ health and the environment.  In response to the report, Sue Percy, Chief Executive of CIHT said:

CIHT welcomes the publication of the NAO report as it highlights the need for proper maintenance. As we look to repurpose our road network to support sustainable transport we need to ensure that our footways, cycleways, and highways are properly maintained and help unlock wider societal benefits including improving health and wellbeing.

CIHT’s manifesto makes clear that sustainable transport has many benefits beyond immediate travel, including the positive impact on people’s health and reducing health and social care costs. This includes exercise from active travel, better air quality from replacing car journeys with walking or cycling, economic benefits from relieved congestion, improved public health from enabling people to lead longer, healthier and more independent lives.

Report’s highlights 

The NAO report highlights how local roads, making up 98% of the total road network in England, are essential for daily travels and the movement of goods. Since almost all journeys start and end on local roads, their maintenance is essential for safety, congestion and travel choices. 

Specifically, the report says that:

• There are currently significant gaps in DfT’s information on the condition of local roads, limiting its understanding of condition of the network.
• The limited data that DfT collects show the surface condition of local roads as stable over time, but information from industry bodies and people using roads suggests that road condition is getting worse.
• DfT’s 2020 estimate of the benefit-to-cost ratio of local road maintenance is 7:1
• DfT’s data do not allow it to understand how the funding that it provides for local road maintenance improves the condition of local roads.
• Unlike its longer-term funding for the strategic road network, DfT’s funding for local roads has generally been short term and provided through multiple funds.
• DfT does not consider the condition of roads or the factors that contribute to their deterioration when allocating funding to local authorities
• DfT’s use of funding incentives to improve local authorities’ approach to asset management no longer works as intended
• The increasing backlog in road maintenance work hinders local authorities in undertaking preventative work that could deliver better value.
• DfT has announced £8.3 billion in additional long-term funding for local roads maintenance, but it is not yet clear how this will be allocated.
• DfT needs to plan now for how it will support local authorities to meet challenges on the road network, such as climate change and the introduction of autonomous vehicles.

CIHT welcomes this report and the issues of funding. CIHT has called for a minimum of a five-year commitment to funding local roads maintenance and renewal (a local roads investment strategy). This will enable local highway authorities to secure longer-term procurement, address decarbonisation, improve maintenance interventions and make transport networks more resilient.  

CIHT would be willing to work with the sector to support the actions called for in the report and help deliver the economic, social and environmental benefits that local roads offer in England.