Meetings and AGMs
You can find information and minutes from our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and other APPG meetings and presentations, by clicking on the articles below:
2023
Developing an action plan for local roads
The first meeting of the year commenced with Rick Green Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) setting out the key findings from the 2023 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, which provides detailed insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network, based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance.
Rick highlighted that this year’s survey again reported declining conditions, with the cost of addressing the backlog of repairs now more than £14 billion, the highest it has ever been. He explained that, correspondingly, structural conditions continue to decline. ALARM 2023 reports that half of local roads in England and Wales, or the equivalent of 88,000 miles will potentially need to be rebuilt within the next 15 years without appropriate maintenance measures and, that nearly one in five local roads are already defined as being structurally ‘poor’, with less than five years’ structural life remaining.
Rick summarised that the findings of this year’s ALARM report reinforce the trends identified in the analysis shared at the December APPG meeting – that since the Pothole Action Fund’s suspension in 2021, local road conditions are experiencing accelerated decline with a rising bill to fix the problem.
The discussion then turned to the draft report developed since the December meeting which whas circulated in advance of the meeting. It reviews the positive impact of the Pothole Action Fund (2017-2021) in improving local road conditions.
Minutes for the meeting can be found here
2022
Assessing the Pothole Action Fund | 6 December 2022
The second meeting of the year saw Rick Green, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), set out a review of the Pothole Action Fund. He highlighted that various data sources indicate that it was an effective funding mechanism which contributed to a demonstrable improvement in the structural conditions of the local road network.
Rick described how, between 2015/2016 – 2020/21, the lifetime of the Pothole Action Fund, 12,319 more miles of local road (or 7% of the local road network) were classified as being in a good structural condition. (i.e. having more than 15 years of residual life), than before the fund was introduced. In the same period, the cost of bringing the local road network up to a position where it could be maintained cost effectively going forward plateaued, as did the reported annual shortfall in carriageway maintenance budgets.
Rick concluded that the Pothole Action Fund provided local authorities with a secure funding stream that enabled planned capital works to tackle the backlog of repairs. This helped to reduce the level of more expensive reactive maintenance required and contributed to improved structural conditions.
A discussion among those present within the group, which is chaired by Sir Christopher Chope OBE MP, followed. It was agreed that the secretariat would develop Rick’s findings into a discussion paper for possible publication by the APPG in 2023.
Minutes for the meeting can be found here
To request a copy of For full details of Rick Green’s presentation email the APPG secretariat
AGM & 2022 ALARM Report│17 May 2022
Inaugural meeting – The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Better Roads has been established following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions. It will be chaired by Sir Christopher Chope, MP for Christchurch, with five Vice Chairs: Lilian Greenwood, former Chair of the Transport Committee and MP for Nottingham South; Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington; Greg Smith, MP for Buckingham; Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North; and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate.
The APPG’s inaugural meeting on May 17 confirmed the change of the Group’s name – from the APPG on Highways – to better reflect its work in advocating the safety, environmental, social and economic cases for a properly maintained and sustainable network.
Full minutes of the inaugural meeting and the full meeting can be found here.
AIA Director, Malcolm Simms highlighted the findings of the 2022 ALARM survey.
2019
2018
2017
2016
Presentation – A Major Road Network for England report │ 26 October 2016
Meeting & 2016 ALARM report findings – Resilience of network under pressure │ 20 July 2016