Ahead of National Pothole Day (15 January), the Federation of Small Businesses is calling on the Government to deliver on its manifesto pledge to provide £2 billion in funding to fill the thousands of potholes blighting streets across the nation.
FSB’s own findings show that across England, 700,000 potholes were reported in 2018/19, covering around 28km, the equivalent height of 292 Big Bens.
In total, almost £1 billion was spent fixing damaged roads and holes in 2018/19.
FSB National Chair Mike Cherry, said: “When roads are poorly maintained, this can seriously hamper small firms from going about their business by causing significant damage to vehicles that are often critical to businesses often working without large capital reserves.
“Ahead of the 2019 general election, we called on the next Government to not only provide funding to fill potholes that are causing millions of pounds of damage every year, but to go further and ensure that local councils have the resources to provide ongoing road maintenance.
“While money is important, simply offering piecemeal funding will not fix the problem at hand, which is why equipping local authorities with the means to fix and maintain roads is so critically important.
“Prioritising this will mean that road defects are stopped from developing into potholes, saving time and money further down the line.”
FSB has previously called for meaningful action to maintain the nation’s roads including more local authority funding, greater co-ordination between councils and utility companies, a clearer and simpler system to report potholes as well as upgraded technology to track and detect road problems early.
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About FSB
As the UK’s largest business support group, FSB is the voice of the UK’s small businesses and the self-employed. Established over 40 years ago to help its members succeed in business, FSB is a non-profit making and non-party political organisation that’s led by its members, for its members. As the UK’s leading business campaigner, FSB is focused on delivering change which supports smaller businesses to grow and succeed.
FSB offers members a wide range of vital business services, including access to finance, business banking, legal advice and support along with a powerful voice in Government. Each year FSB also runs the UK’s Celebrating Small Business Awards. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk. You can follow us on twitter @fsb_policy and on Instagram @fsb_uk.