How many potholes is the government expecting councils to fill?

On BBC 5 Live Breakfast this morning [2:31:40], the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer discussed a government announcement that means local authorities in England will be obliged to publish annual progress reports in order to access the maximum amount of highway maintenance funding. 

As was previously set out in a government announcement back in December, the total funding of £1.6 billion includes “an extra £500 million” for what the government is now calling the “roads pot”.

While speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Mr Starmer said the funding being allocated to local authorities to fill the potholes was “enough for 700 million to be filled”. This appears to be incorrect and the Prime Minister may have misspoken, however. The government’s press release today says that £500 million of this funding could allow seven million potholes to be filled each year, not “700 million”, as the Prime Minister said. 

As we’ve written elsewhere, the average cost of filling a pothole in England and Wales is about £70, which means filling seven million would cost £490 million. So filling 700 million would cost £49 billion, which is far more than the Department for Transport’s entire annual departmental expenditure limit.

Estimates for the number of potholes vary. In January 2025, according to the RAC, the UK was “thought to have more than one million potholes”, though it said the figure varies seasonally. Between 2022 and 2023, the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimated 1.4 million potholes were filled. Whatever the accuracy of these specific figures, it seems unlikely there are 700 million potholes that need to be dealt with.

We’ve contacted Mr Starmer and No 10 about his claim today, and will update this blog if we receive a response.