Government teams up with supermarkets to map potholes

Audit of perilous state of UK’s roads will be bolstered by data from Tesco, Ocado, Uber and Deliveroo

The unending battle against the potholes that scar almost every inch of the UK’s road network is to be bolstered by help from Ocado, Tesco, Deliveroo and Uber, after the Department for Transport announced it would be working with the firms to build up a comprehensive map of which roads are in urgent need of repair.

The Government has already set aside £2.5bn to fix the UK’s pock-marked roads, but working out where that cash is needed is no simple matter. To help determine which roads require repairs, data gathered by the four firms will be used “to paint the most comprehensive picture ever of where funding is most needed to make sure roads are not plagued by potholes.” The DfT will also work with highways and data-mapping company Gaist, as well as local authorities, in a bid to bring about a “levelling up” of the UK’s road network.

The move comes as millions of school-run trips in England are about to resume after five months of lockdown and summer-holiday closure, and follows 319 miles of repairs that have been effected over the past few months when roads have been quiet.

Announcing the “first of its kind” project, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the move makes sense as delivery companies “know the roads well”, adding that “better road surfaces benefit motorists and cyclists alike ensuring the back to school and work environment is safer for everyone.”

Deliveroo’s Charlie Wren said: “This is a great way to make sure [Deliveroo riders] and other road users are safe on the road. We’re looking forward to working with the government on this important scheme to help make the roads safer for Deliveroo riders and others.”

As well as being a boon to car drivers, the pothole blitz should make life far safer for cyclists, who often have to ride around large divots in Tarmac, or risk pirouetting over their handlebars if they do not spot the obstacles in time.

Road funding cuts could have paid for eight million pothole repairs

The money that has been cut from local councils’ road funding budgets since 2010 could have paid for nearly eight million potholes to be repaired, according to new data.

Figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) show the amount of money councils are able to spend on routine maintenance – including filling in potholes, cleaning drains and fixing faulty street lamps – has fallen from £1.1bn in 2009/10 to £701m in 2017/18 – a reduction of 37 per cent.

• £201million pothole repair fund announced by Government

The LGA, which represents local authorities in England and Wales, estimates that this funding lost by councils could have been used to repair around 7.8 million potholes.

The money has been lost as a result of austerity measures that are seeing councils forfeit 60p in every £1 between 2010 and 2020, with services such as road maintenance being stripped back to free-up money for childcare, adult social care and support for the homeless.