Keir Starmer and the Labour government may be 'wasting' up to £7.3 billion on their approach to pothole repairs, according to a leading expert in highway maintenance. Richard Moss, Road Repair Expert at Instarmac, has criticised officials for adopting a 'reactive cycle of temporary repairs' that fails to address the underlying problem.
Current Strategy Under Fire
Moss warned that simply filling broken roads as they appear does nothing to reduce the pothole backlog. The UK currently faces an estimated £18.62 billion backlog in pothole repairs, putting immense pressure on local councils. Instead, Moss argues that more preventative measures should be prioritised to achieve long-term results.
The Scale of the Problem
Breakdown crews are dealing with pothole-related incidents daily. The RAC reported that 6,290 drivers contacted them after hitting potholes in February 2026, compared to just 1,842 in the same month last year. This surge highlights the urgent need for effective road maintenance.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Moss explained: 'So, what is the right response – and is it as simple as an increase in funding? The government seems to think so, announcing £1.6 billion for pothole repair in 2025-26, with a longer-term commitment of £7.3 billion over four years. On paper, that sounds substantial. But how that money is used to get the job done will be the linchpin that fixes Britain’s roads for good.'
He added: 'A reactive cycle of temporary repairs – quickly applied, quickly failing – does nothing to eat away at the immense pothole backlog, but does plenty to eat into a budget. Every pothole that reappears within weeks of being filled represents a wasted repair, a repeat callout and a further erosion of public confidence in local highways teams.'
Government's Pothole Pledge
Keir Starmer has made potholes a major focus of his premiership, pledging an extra £1.6 billion for councils to fix damaged roads last spring. The Prime Minister emphasised that fixing basic infrastructure is central to delivering national renewal and improving living standards as part of Labour's Plan for Change.
Starmer previously stated: 'British people are bored of seeing their politicians aimlessly pointing at potholes with no real plan to fix them. That ends with us. We have done our part by handing councils the cash and certainty they need – now it is up to them to get on with the job, put that money to use and prove they are delivering for their communities.'
Expert's Three-Step Solution
Richard Moss has proposed a three-method strategy to permanently repair UK roads. First, he suggests using permanent cold-lay repair products to carry out durable repairs without closing roads. Second, routes that have gone beyond reasonable repair should be properly resurfaced, as repeated patching of compromised surfaces is a false economy. Third, preventative maintenance could alleviate many issues before they escalate.
Moss concluded: 'Filling potholes without sealing the roads that will become tomorrow’s potholes is fighting a losing battle. Water is the primary cause of pothole formation, so preventing it from penetrating the surface is far cheaper than repairing the damage once it has occurred.'
