GovWire

Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, is marking National Pothole Day (15January 2025), with a visit to the JCB Factory outside Derby, to see cutting-edge technology helping councils tackle potholes.

Derbyshire, highlighted by theRAC as the worst area in England for potholes, is set to benefit from a share of the governments record 1.6 billion investment to resurface across England.

This includes an additional 20 million for the East Midlands County Combined Authority, which includes Derbyshire, as part of a 1.6 billion funding for highway maintenance that will enable councils to fix up to 7 million more potholes.

At the J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) power systems factory, the Roads Minister will speak to engineers to learn about the latest innovations being used to tackle the pothole plague. She will operate JCBs pothole pro, a machine that can fix a pothole in 8 minutes, with a cost of around 30. The pothole pro is currently used by 20 local authorities.

The minister will also meet with local leaders to discuss their plans for filling potholes to deliver safer, quicker and less costly journeys for all road users in Derbyshire. This is part of the governments plans to work more closely with local authorities to ensure they have the powers to spend it where their communities need it most.

As part of its Plan for Change, the government is committed to delivering safer, smoother journeys reducing delays, saving drivers money and going above and beyond its manifesto pledge.

Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said:

Potholes are a clear sign of decline in our infrastructure and for too long roads like those in Derbyshire have been left in a state that endangers and costs road users.

Its time for change and we are investing 1.6 billion to fix up to 7 million more potholes across England this year, including over 75 million for the East Midlands Combined Authority.

JCBs pothole pro is one of the many great examples of using new technology to repair potholes faster and demonstrates how companies are harnessing new technology to repair potholes faster.

Well continue to engage with local leaders and industry to ensure innovations are being used to deliver roads the country deserves.

Ben Rawding, general manager, municipalities at JCB, said:

We are looking forward to introducing the minister to the benefits that innovation and technology can deliver in tackling the plague of potholes in our country.

Last months announcement by the Department of Transport of 1.6 billion of funding for road repairs in England during 2025 is very welcome. Our appeal to the Minister will be for this funding to be spent wisely to ensure permanent long-term repairs become the priority for local authorities making best use of value-adding, productive technology such as the JCB pothole pro.

RAC senior policy officer, Rod Dennis, said:

Theres no motoring-related issue drivers are more concerned about than the state of their local roads where almosteveryones journeysbeginand end.

Going beyond merely patching potholes is the name of the game, and using the latest technology to perform permanent repairs is a much better use of public money. To stop our roads falling apart in the first place, we support councils surface dressing them at regular intervals and resurfacing those that are beyond reasonable repair.

Wed also strongly encourage drivers to reportpotholes theyre aware of to their local authority, viaGOV.UK,the RAC websiteor using theStan app.

The governments latest road maintenance funding builds on the wider support its giving to councils to deliver core services and serve their communities. 69 billion of funding will be injected into council budgets across England to help them drive forward the governments Plan for Change through investment and reform and to fix the foundations of local government.

You can report potholes on GOV.UK, using the RAC website or the Stan app.