£33.5m to maintain Surrey’s roads and repair potholes

Last week, the government announced that Surrey will receive £33.5 million in 2020/21 to maintain our local roads and repair potholes.

The funding includes an allocation of the £2.5 billion Potholes Fund announced in the Budget in March. I wrote to the Transport Secretary soon after the Budget, to ensure that Surrey received its fair share of this funding. You can read my letter below.

This allocation includes money from the Pothole Action Fund announced in the 2015 Budget, and highways maintenance funding which is allocated by formula each year.

This is good news for Elmbridge residents. Improving the condition of our local roads will cut down the injuries and extra cost that potholes can cause drivers and cyclists, supporting the local economy and improving residents’ quality of life.

Repairing potholes is particularly important in Surrey. Earlier this year, research showed that, of 70 local authorities sent Freedom of Information requests, Surrey County Council received the highest number of compensation claims (3,533) for damage caused by potholes between 1 January 2018 and 17 October 2019.