The government is set to announce significant cuts in road maintenance along with the slashing of council budgets.

The Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will announce this week a reduction in council budgets of up to 10% and it believes that the spending on road maintenance could be reduced by double that amount. Sources at the Department of Transport have confirmed that highway maintenance will be one of the big casualties of the cuts in government spending, although Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, will announce a budget of £1.3bn for small road improvements.

The prospect of the roads budget being cut by as much as 20% has been criticised by the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Neil Greig, its director of policy and research, said: "It sounds depressingly familiar. Local authorities and the Government never seem to learn. They think the easiest things they can cut, such as road maintenance, do not immediately cause problems but they end up costing more money in the long run."

The local government funding settlement will show how the spending cuts will affect local communities with libraries and leisure centres braced for cutbacks and police forces also prepared for cuts of 5%.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338107/Thousands-potholes-expected-20-cuts-create-big-hole-road-funding.html