This year marks the 30th successive ALARM survey and highlights the continuing challenges facing highway teams.

Every year the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) commissions an independent survey of local authority highway departments in England (including London) and Wales.

The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report provides insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network. The survey is based on information provided by almost 80% of local authorities in England and Wales who are responsible for maintaining the highways network.  

According to the report the backlog of carriageway repairs is now almost £17 billion.  The report also highlights that local roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 93 years  and one in six miles are reported to only have five years structural life remaining.

The report notes:

Over the last decade more than £20 billion has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales, including spending to fill the equivalent of one pothole every 18 seconds, every day, for 10 years. But unfortunately, due to the short-term nature of the allocation of funding, this has resulted in no quantifiable uplift in the condition and resilience of the network.

CIHT welcomes the report, as this is based on evidence from nearly 8 in 10 local authorities in England and Wales.  CIHT has long called for longer term funding for the local highways sector and welcomes this report as a contribution to the evidence base for that  . 
The full report (and those from previous years) can be downloaded at: www.asphaltuk.org/alarm-survey-page/

CIHT is undertaking work on making the case for longer-term funding.  If you have evidence and case study material to support this then please email technical@ciht.org.uk 

Cover image of ALRAM 2025 report