Shropshire MP urges Government to release £46m 'incentive-based' cash for councils to fix potholes
A Shropshire MP is urging the Government to release £46 million in funds that is earmarked for filling in the county’s potholes.
This week the Government announced £7.3 billion of capital funding to maintain and improve local roads over the next four years until 2030.
Ministers have said that the funding will “significantly improve” the conditions of England’s roads and highways, “delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys".
However, more than £500m a year of the funding is incentive-based and will only be made available to councils that publish pothole data on their website, a move the Government says will help ensure local authorities remain accountable.
But South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson has urged ministers to fully fund councils so they can plan effective interventions over the longer term.
He said the incentive-based cash available for Shropshire adds up to £45.7m.
It follows the MP’s Pothole Patrol Survey, which found more than one hundred pothole hotspots in towns and villages across his constituency.
He said: “My Pothole Patrol Survey identified more than one hundred hotspots in South Shropshire alone. This demonstrated the huge importance of urgently improving the condition and quality of our local roads.
“Given this situation, I am appalled that the Government has frozen almost a third of funding for local roads and pothole repairs. This is despite evidence showing that long-term certainty is required to plan effective interventions. I am concerned that this decision will delay urgent action to improve the county’s roads.
“Over the next four years, the frozen funding adds up to £46 million for Shropshire alone. At the same time, the Chancellor has axed the decades-long freeze on fuel duty from September 2026. These decisions penalise more than two-thirds of residents in South Shropshire, who rely on a car or van to get to work. So, I will continue to campaign against them."
