Councils which cause potholes will be named and shamed...

Councils which cause potholes by failing to maintain their roads properly will be "named and shamed" and denied access to government funding.

Ministers have announced that local authorities will be given £1 billion a year to maintain their roads, enough to fill in 18 million potholes.
However Robert Goodwill, the roads minister, said that £100 billion of the funding will be reserved for the best performing authorities.
He warned that local authorities which "run around like headless chickens" trying to fill in potholes because they have failed to invest enough in their roads will not benefit.

He said that the government is also planning to introduce a "traffic light" system which will allow the public to identify the best and worst performing local authorities in Britain.

He told The Telegraph: "In the past failure has been rewarded and success has been penalized. A council would come cap in hand and say we've got all these terrible roads in such a state, please give us some more money.
"In some cases that was because they were a local authority that was not as effective at deploying the money they had been given.
"We've all seen that the councils dump a bit of lukewarm tarmac in the hole, stamp it down and they think they've done a repair and then they're surprised when six to twelve months later it reappears.
"If a local authority isn't managing its roads properly then it's going to cost them even more money."
"We are moving away from a system where councils which performed badly were rewarded by being given additional money to mend their potholes. The ones performing well almost penalized themselves because they were getting on top of the problem therefore their funding would have possibly declined."

The government will give councils £6 billion between 2015 and 2021 for maintaining their roads. A total of £578 million of the funding will be set aside for an "incentive fund scheme" which will for the first time reward the best councils for managing their roads.
Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, said: “Roads play a significant part in everyday life. Poorly maintained local roads, blighted by potholes, are a menace to all road users, particularly during the festive period as people travel to see family and friends.
“It is vital we have good quality roads. This government has already taken strong action by spending £1 billion more on local roads maintenance than was spent in the previous parliament.
“The £6 billion funding I am announcing today will put an end to short term fixes and will mean we have committed £10 billion between 2010 and 2021.
“This huge investment is part of our long term economic plan to ensure we have a transport network fit for the 21st century.”

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