Stuart Anderson MP has accused the government of depriving Shropshire of millions of pounds in funding for pothole repairs.

Almost £46 million is being held back until Shropshire Council has met stringent criteria, which Stuart has said will delay urgent action needed to improve the county’s roads.

The government has announced £7.3 billion of capital funding to maintain and improve local roads over the next four years until 2030.

Ministers have said that the funding will “significantly improve” the conditions on England’s roads and highways, “delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.”

Ministers have added that it will give councils “greater funding certainty” to “better plan ahead and to move away from expensive, short-term repairs.”

However, a significant proportion of the funding has been designated as “incentive funding.” This means that councils will not be able to access it straightaway.

Each year, over £500 million will only be unlocked by councils that have published pothole data on their website. For Shropshire, this adds up to £45.748 million.

Officials at the Department for Transport have said this is to ensure councils are held accountable. However, Stuart has urged Ministers to fully fund councils so they can plan effective interventions over the longer term.

Earlier in the year, Stuart slammed Minister’s decision to hold back a quarter of Shropshire’s £9 million top-up that was announced in the Spring Statement for the same reasons.

In a bid to unlock the funding, Stuart called on the Government in March to rethink its approach. While Stuart has welcomed the longer-term allocations, he has said the frozen funding must be unlocked.

It follows Stuart’s Pothole Patrol Survey, which found more than one hundred pothole hotspots in towns and villages across South Shropshire alone.

Following his survey, Stuart presented Ministers with his findings and submitted a list of every road residents raised with him to Shropshire Council to ensure that these roads could repaired as soon as possible.

The RAC has stated that smoother, well-maintained road surfaces could save drivers up to £440 each year in expensive vehicle repairs following pothole damage. 

According to the AA, a record £579 million was spent in the UK last year repairing vehicles damaged by potholes. This is up from £474 million in 2023.

At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor axed the decades-long freeze on fuel duty from September 2026. This is expected to cost motorists £2.4 billion next year and £900 million a year thereafter.

Stuart has opposed the decision, as more than two-thirds of residents in South Shropshire travel to work by car or van. This represents more than 27,000 constituents.

A 5p rise in fuel duty is estimated to increase household living costs by £1.9 billion per annum, pushing up the price of everyday essentials.

Stuart Anderson MP said: “My Pothole Patrol Survey identified more than one hundred hotspots in South Shropshire alone. This demonstrated the huge importance of urgently improving the condition and quality of our local roads. Given this situation, I am appalled that the government has frozen almost a third of funding for local roads and pothole repairs. This is despite evidence showing that long term certainty is required to plan effective interventions.

“I am concerned that this decision will delay urgent action to improve the county’s roads. Over the next four years, the frozen funding adds up to £46 million for Shropshire alone. At the same time, the Chancellor has axed the decades-long freeze on fuel duty from September 2026.

“These decisions penalise more than two-thirds of residents in South Shropshire, who rely on a car or van to get to work. So, I will continue to campaign against them.”