National Pothole Day

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The Government are failing to listen to the public who know that the major problem with Britain’s roads is the pothole epidemic and the failure to maintain our road infrastructure properly. Ministers care more about a top-down reorganisation of the Highways Agency, who manage 2% of strategic roads, than fixing the 98% of local roads – a third of which are in urgent need of attention.

The Government have committed to spend £15 billion on strategic roads by 2021 and say they are investing record amounts in pothole repair funds too. But Ministers are misleading the public – spending on local road maintenance will decline in real terms in this time, from £920 million a year in 2010 to £865 million a year by 2020.

Commenting on the first National Pothole Day, Labour’s Shadow Roads Minister, Richard Burden MP said:

Britain faces a national pothole epidemic. A third of local roads are in urgent need of repair. Millions of journeys for motorists, cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users are being blighted by potholes and battered roads.

But Tory Ministers are more bothered about a top-down reorganisation of the Highways Agency which looks after just 2% of UK roads. They are also conning the public about what they are doing about pothole Britain. Budgets for local road maintenance have been savaged and in real terms will be lower in 2020 that they were five years ago. It is time the Government sorted their priorities out.

On National Pothole Day people are taking the problem into our own hands. The Street Repairs App will help people report potholes and road problems wreaking havoc in their areas, and help councils to resolve them. It is time the Government listened and fixed pothole Britain.”

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Richard Burden

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I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.

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You can reach me by email at richard@richardburden.com or use the form on the Contact page to send me a message.