The true cost of repairing Kent’s crumbling roads and infrastructure is £1.3bn, the county’s highways chief disclosed.

While the bill fixing the highways alone would be around £625m, the work required on associated assets such as drains, pavements, street lights and tunnels would double it.

That is the sobering message from the Kent County Council (KCC) cabinet member for transport and highways, Cllr Neil Baker.

He blames a historic unwillingness by central government to adequately fund the county’s largest authority to maintain the 5,400-mile roads network.

Cllr Baker says over time the backlog of unfixed repair jobs has grown massively but could be reduced with a sustained cash injection.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year acknowledged the scale of the problem across the country and pledged £1.6bn for potholes alone.

Cllr Baker said:"The increasing backlog, in Kent and across the country, reflects the gap between the government minister of the day, of whatever party, pointing at a pothole and offering what they claim is a massive amount of money and the reality we all see when we step outside.

“It also doesn't help anyone when their press releases and soundbites refer almost solely to potholes when the funding allocations are actually for all highways asset maintenance, including pavements, drains, streetlights, bridges and tunnels.

"Once those other assets are added to the £625 million road maintenance backlog in Kent, the total amount of work required gets close to £1.3 billion, per our medium-term financial planning paperwork.

“Clearly, this work isn't going to be completely overnight, but for every year government underfunds maintenance, the sum is only going to increase. With more funding over time, a massive backlog can be reduced year by year.”

Cllr Baker, who represents Canterbury and is standing at the KCC elections in May, said he understands central government has to make “difficult choices” over spending.

He added: "But polls repeatedly show residents are fed up with substandard roads and motorists are already paying huge amounts in tax. While vehicle excise duty and fuel duty are not ring-fenced for road spending, in 2023/24 they generated £7.8billion and £24.8billlion respectively. Allocating at least some of that for direct highways maintenance spending could be a way forward.

"This is a national issue but made even more obvious in Kent due to the number of miles travelled on our roads and the underlying geology.

“Part of a fairer funding settlement from government needs to take those factors into account, and it must be significant funding over a long-period, to allow proper planning and preparation, if we are to get our roads into the condition residents understandably tell us they want."

KCC has been speaking to government in the past week about the disruption caused by utility companies’ road works.

The council, alongside Shropshire Council, Greater Manchester and the Local Government Association gave testimony to the transport selection committee on March 19.

The issue of funding for roads was sparked in recent days by the industry body Asphalt UK’s call for a “complete change of mindset” in the way government funds maintenance and repair of the road networks across the country.

The body’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report revealed a staggering £17bn backlog exists in road repairs.

And despite investing £20bn to fill the equivalent of one pothole every 18 seconds, every day, for 10 years, “the condition and resilience of the road network have not significantly improved”, according to KCC.

A statement said: “In Kent, despite spending around £35m each year on planned road renewal and preservation work to prevent potholes occurring in the first place, the road maintenance backlog stands at £625m, while the council has so far received 21,000 pothole reports from the public in 2024/25.”

Cllr Baker added: “The ALARM survey illustrates the very issue we face in Kent, where successive government announcements of short-term funding to fix potholes each year falls far short of the money actually needed to adequately maintain our heavily used road network.

"Potholes are the endpoint of a failing road and the number of defects reported on Kent’s roads remains exceptionally high.

“To really make a difference, Kent, and other councils in England and Wales, clearly need the Government to dramatically increase funding for larger-scale resurfacing and road maintenance programmes.

“The ALARM survey shows that the Government’s reliance on funding announcements each spring of short-term pothole fixes clearly isn’t having the desired effect.”

“There needs to be a national discussion about how we are going to improve things across the whole country.

“I fully support Asphalt UK’s call for a complete overhaul of government road funding. We need more funds for councils to plan large-scale, long-term road maintenance and rebuilding. This will help tackle potholes, keep our economy growing, and ensure the people of Kent can move about their lives as they rightly demand.”

Last December Sir Keir Starmer said: “Broken roads can risk lives and cost families hundreds if not thousands of pounds on repairs. That’s a cost that can easily be avoided by investing properly in our roads.

“Through our Plan for Change we’re determined to put more money back into the pockets of hardworking people and improve living standards. That’s why we’re giving councils funding to repair our roads and get Britain moving again – with a clear expectation that they get on with the job.”