Breaking down England's fiscal devolution plans
David Phillips of the IFS tells LocalGov why England's regional finance reforms are modest by global comparison and what ministers still need to get right.
BT fined £24k after Cumberland Council street works prosecution
26/06/2026 BT has been fined after pleading guilty to four offences relating to street works safety failures, following a prosecution brought by Cumberland Council. |
Devon County Council calls for volunteers to fill in potholes
22/05/2026 Devon County Council is calling for more volunteers to join its community road warden scheme as it marks a decade since the initiative was rolled out. |
Volunteer wardens assemble to fix local roads
12/05/2026 A community scheme has been launched by Shropshire Council to enhance local road maintenance efforts. |
Bodycams rolled out to support safety of Staffordshire road workers
01/05/2026 Staffordshire County Council’s highways crews have been equipped with bodycams to help protect them from threatening behaviour. |
Kent CC bids for over £100m to fix two major road schemes
01/05/2026 Kent County Council has submitted bids to the Government's Structures Fund seeking more than £100m to address critical issues on two key roads in the county. |
Bristol potholes complaints up 700%
29/04/2026 Bristol City Council has faced criticism after pothole complaints rose 700%, with repair times exceeding targets. |
Councils risk losing funding under new pothole performance rules
14/04/2026 Local highway authorities in England face losing up to a third of their roads funding if they cannot demonstrate it is being spent on road maintenance. |
AI could save Cambridgeshire CC from future potholes
07/04/2026 Cambridgeshire County Council is to begin using artificial intelligence (AI) to combat its £800m road maintenance backlog. |
ALARM: Record £18.6bn road repair backlog despite funding boost
17/03/2026 Local roads across England and Wales face a record £18.62bn repair backlog that would take 12?years to clear, according to the latest ALARM survey. |
RAC reveals rise in rain and pothole-related road risks
10/03/2026 There has been a surge in the number of drivers impacted by pothole breakdowns during wet weather this year. |
Local election candidates urged to back preventative road maintenance
18/02/2026 The Road Emulsion Association (REA) has urged all candidates in the upcoming local elections to commit to long-term, preventative maintenance of local roads. |
Local roads to see boost from £315m highways contract
03/02/2026 Three councils have awarded a £315m highways maintenance contract to an international infrastructure group. |
Pothole Pressures: Refining road maintenance ratings
22/01/2026 Andrew Cook, ADEPT, responds to the Department for Transport’s publication of its new Red, Amber, Green (RAG) ratings on council road maintenance performance. |
National Pothole Day: Focusing minds on lasting road repairs
14/01/2026 As National Pothole Day highlights road damage, a partnership of motoring and transport groups is urging councils to rethink how potholes are fixed. |
New system launched to assess councils’ road repair performance
12/01/2026 A new traffic light rating system has been rolled out to assess how effectively local highway authorities (LHAs) are fixing potholes and maintaining roads. |
Pothole prevention work shows first major rise in years
11/11/2025 New figures suggest councils are stepping up efforts to protect roads from potholes, with a 15% increase in surface dressing work this year compared to 2024. |
Councils urged to step up as pothole breakdowns soar
21/10/2025 Councils face renewed pressure to maintain roads as new RAC figures reveal a 25% rise in pothole-related breakdowns over the summer compared to last year. |
Essex CC wows with road resurfacing results
15/10/2025 Essex County Council’s use of graphene-enhanced asphalt has produced ‘very encouraging’ results. |
Council calls for stronger fines for disruptive utility firms
24/09/2025 Hertfordshire CC has called on national Government to raise the penalties on utility companies responsible for poorly managed or unauthorised roadworks. |
Call for mandatory pothole training for councils
08/09/2025 The RAC and RSTA have called on the Government to mandate training for councils that fail to carry out preventative road maintenance. |
