Well, the results of the ALARM survey this year could have been worse. An 11 % rise in the maintenance backlog across English and Welsh local roads, to reach a record ￡14.02bn, is not such a bad result when facing a 20% shortfall in funding over 2022-2023, linked to reported inflation rates of up 20%. Local authorities across England and Wales and the Department for Transport (DfT) are doing an impressive job in very difficult circumstances. The sector knows well the commonly requested solutions - more money of course, and ringfenced budgets across five year cycles, linked to inflation. This would bring local roads (98% of the network) in line with the strategic network, not to mention the rail network. While ringfencing might present some concerns in local government, five-year funding settlements linked to inflation definitely would not. The ALARM report states: 'Almost all responses to this year's ALARM survey indicated that at least five years should be considered as the optimal term (five years: 61%; 10 years: 35%) for the funding horizon.'
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