Local Elections 2023: New powers will help prevent potholes, says Rishi Sunak

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised a clampdown on potholes, as campaigning for the local elections gets under way.

On a visit to Darlington, in north-east England, he said new powers would help ensure firms repair roads properly after carrying out works, through more fines and inspections.

Some 230 councils across England are holding elections on 4 May.

The PM was in Darlington for a campaign visit, alongside Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen and local MP Peter Gibson.

The Conservatives are currently the largest party on Darlington Council, after Labour lost control of the council in the 2019 local elections.

The area is part of the so-called Red Wall of former Labour strongholds in the north of England and the Midlands, which the Conservatives are keen to retain at the next general election.

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Earlier this week, The Tories also set out plans to tackle anti-social behaviour , including banning the sale of nitrous oxide and making people who vandalise public spaces repair the damage they cause.

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The prime minister said the Tories were "delivering locally for the North East", with the government putting more money into fixing potholes and clamping down on utility companies which left behind damage after digging up roads.

"There'll be more fines, more inspections, that's also going to help. We want to make sure it's easy for people to get around," he added.

New regulations, which were announced last year and come into force on Saturday, will bring in a performance-based inspection regime, with companies assessed on the quality of their road repairs and the worst-performing companies inspected more.

The Department for Transport said highway authorities now charged £50 per inspection, and a further £120 for follow-up inspections, so there would be a financial incentive for firms to improve.

The government said it was investing more than £5.5bn between 2020 and 2025 in highways maintenance, with an extra £200m to help fix potholes announced in March's budget.

Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the government of "playing catch up after its own failures have left UK roads crumbling".

"In 2021 the prime minister vowed to make potholes a thing of the past, but his decisions have left millions of them on our roads," she said.

The Liberal Democrats said the announcement was "nothing new and just a complete re-hash".

Motoring groups have previously called for more investment to help improve the state of the country's roads.

Earlier this month, a survey commissioned by the Asphalt Industry Alliance suggested councils in England and Wales only received two-thirds of what they needed this year to stop local roads further deteriorating.

The organisation said budgets had not kept pace with cost increases and government funding was not enough to prevent further decline of road conditions.

It found that 18% of the local roads network had been assessed as being in poor condition and having less than five years of life remaining.