A re-structure of the current funding system used to maintain the UK’s roads could be a major step in the right direction says HBPW Partner, Jon Livesey
As an influential group of MPs warn recently that the country’s road maintenance strategy was seriously flawed, Jon Livesey echoed their sentiments, claiming that a more planned approach would not only reduce the need for ‘reactive’ maintenance, but also give the country more ‘bang for its buck’.
“On the one hand the Department for Transport has been cutting the roads maintenance budget by £1.2bn over the four years from April 2011, whilst on the other providing around £1.1bn of additional funding for flood repairs and repairs for winter damage, which doesn’t make economic sense. 
“Without doubt the DoT would get more for its money if it invested in a pro-active rather than a reactive approach. As a consequence of fluctuating budgets over the decades, it is value for money that has fallen victim to the political agenda.”
According to the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, public satisfaction with the state of English road is at its lowest level since 2008.
And, in an ironic twist, compensation claims for damage arising from poor road conditions, cost over £31m in 2013/14 with the cost of filling in a pothole running at £52.
“It is a flawed logic,” added Jon, “when you start reducing budgets in order to save money, only to end up paying out more because the so-called savings result in a problem that costs more to remedy.
“The Commons Public Accounts Committee has raised a pertinent point and, unless there is political will to change the current situation, then we can expect to be having this same debate in years to come,” he said.