MAG says don't treat new ALARM report as a joke

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is asking politicians not to treat the 2025 ALARM report as a joke. Following vacuous debate of the issue on the BBC’s Question Time programme, the AIA’s 30^th ALARM report reveals the depth of the issue

The BBC’s topical debate programme Question Time took on potholes for the first time on 13^th March. Filmed in Wolverhampton the producers devoted a mere seven minutes for the discussion despite admissions that the question comes up every week.

Labour MP Emma Reynolds admitted that this question is raised continually by voters on the doorsteps. Reynolds said: “We’re investing £1.6 billion to ensure we fill these potholes, and we give the councils the resources they need to do that.”

When asked: when can we expect to see an improvement? she said, “Very soon.” And despite derision from audience and being challenged by another panellist that a lot of Councils are having their budgets cut, she claimed “Well we are giving them additional funding to fill the potholes”.

Fiona Bruce asked, “Is it hypothecated to potholes?”, but Emma Reynolds did not know.

Conservative MP Luke Evans joked about a guy on TikTok who plants flowers in potholes and pointed out that if people care about potholes, then we have local elections coming up. He also pointed out that it is “a trendy thing when elections come up to have pothole funding”.

ALARM

The ALARM report published today by the Asphalt Industry Association shows one in every six miles of the local road network – equivalent to 34,600 miles – has less than five years’ structural life remaining. Roads are only resurfaced, on average, once every 93 years and 94% of local authority highway teams report that, in their opinion, there has been no improvement to their local network over the last year. Local authorities say they need their budgets to more than double for the next five to ten years if they are going to be able to make any lasting improvements to the condition and resilience of the network.

Over the past three decades ALARM has reported a consistent pattern of short-term cash injections, followed by longer periods of underfunding.

David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, says there needs to be a complete change in mindset away from short-term to long-term funding commitments.

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

“It is rarely mentioned that motorcyclists are the road users placed at most risk by poor road surface condition. Voting in a new local councillor is not going to make any difference to the problem if they do not have more funds to spend. Long term underfunding is to blame, and we need MPs and a Government that is prepared to do what is necessary rather than having a laugh and deflecting attention from their choice to allow our road network to crumble. Let’s be clear – it is their choice. And we are not finding their jokes amusing.”