Stuart Anderson MP has thrown his support behind the Conservative Party’s national Pothole Patrol initiative to tackle the pothole epidemic and get Britain moving again.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“Two in every three people in South Shropshire rely on a car or van to get to work. Many more use them to visit their loved ones or go on days out across the county. However, pothole damage has reached its highest level under this Labour government and is costing the nation’s drivers £1.8 billion a year – with individual repair bills reaching £137. I want to improve the condition of our roads for the better. So, I fully support the Conservative Party’s Plan to put drivers and their passengers back in control. Our National Potholes Taskforce would deploy hundreds of specialist repair machines using the latest technology across the country, with a single national pothole reporting platform that will make it easier for residents to report potholes. I am committed to getting this right locally through my Pothole Patrol Survey identifying hotspots in South Shropshire, raising the issue in my Westminster Hall debate, and working with the APPG for Better Roads to improve street works and reduce disruption.”
Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed plans from the Conservative Party to launch a National Potholes Taskforce that will use the latest technology to fix potholes across the country. Last year, Stuart’s Pothole Patrol Survey identified more than one hundred hotspots in towns and villages across South Shropshire. This year, more than five hundred people have already responded to the initiative. Stuart encourages residents to report troublesome potholes to Shropshire Council via the Fix My Street website in the first instance so he can then chase it up.
Stuart’s support for the plans follows his Westminster Hall Debate on 17th March 2026. As part of the debate, Stuart called for more support to improve road conditions in rural areas like South Shropshire. Stuart criticised the government’s decision to freeze a quarter of funding designated for pothole repair until councils met stringent criteria. He also criticised the government for setting highways maintenance funding until 2030, while the previous government had provided funding clarity until 2032.
Following his debate, Stuart has endorsed the Conservative Party’s £100 million plan to deploy hundreds of modern, specialist repair machines across the country, using the most effective technology on the market to fixe potholes at a faster scale. They will be paired with a single national pothole reporting platform that will make it easier for residents to report potholes. This will replace fragmented local systems with a consistent, user-friendly service, and real time national data. The plan will be funded by cutting the government’s ’s multi-billion communications contracts with external consultants, saving £225 million. Under the Golden Economic Rule, at least half of the savings will go towards cutting the deficit.
Stuart has said that the Conservative Party’s plan will save millions of drivers hundreds of pounds a year in car repairs. It follows polling by Opinium for KwikFit, which found that the cost of repairing pothole damage has reached its highest-ever level. at £1.8 billion. The polling found that 12.8 million drivers reported pothole damage over the past year, with an average repair bill of £137. Of those suffering pothole damage, one in eight had to be picked up by a tow truck because the damage was that bad. The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey found the cost of fixing Britain’s roads is £18.62 billion, the highest amount recorded.
