Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which local authorities in England undertook preventative road maintenance, such as surface dressing roads to prevent potholes forming, in the last year; and what steps they intend to take to increase the amount of preventative road maintenance undertaken.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department’s officials meet regularly with local authority representatives and other experts in the road maintenance industry to discuss best practice. Ministers have also met with key stakeholder groups, including the Pothole Partnership which comprises organisations representing road users and industry.
The Department agrees that local highway authorities should focus on preventative rather than reactive maintenance activities, and this advice is set out in the Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure, which is available online. The Department is committed to updating this guidance and has begun work to scope out urgently which parts need updating and how. The Department strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes, and encourages authorities to consider all parts of the highway network, such as bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns, and not just the fixing of potholes or resurfacing of roads.
Decisions on how much to spend on their local highway networks each year are matters for local highway authorities, who have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area. The Department for Transport collects and publishes on gov.uk each year data on authorities’ capital and revenue expenditure on their highway maintenance activities. The data shows that, at a national level, total spending on local road maintenance in the financial year 2022/23 was broadly similar to total spend in each of the previous five years.
This Government recognises the importance of well-maintained roads and has provided an additional £500m for highway maintenance for the year 2025/26 – a near 50% uplift on the current baseline. This has resulted in an 36% increase on average to individual local highway authority allocations, as well as providing highway maintenance funding top-ups to London authorities and mayoral areas already receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. These allocations can be found on gov.uk.
In addition, the Department is taking a number of steps to improve its understanding of the condition of local roads. It worked with the British Standards Institute and the highway sector to develop a new road condition data standard for local highway authorities, which was published last year. This will enable them to utilise new technologies, including AI, to identify potholes and other defects in their highway network more promptly.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of road accidents in England in the last 10 years where potholes and poor-quality road surfaces were a cause.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Statistics on reported road injury collisions in Great Britain are published based on data reported by police via the data collection known as STATS19.
Within STATS19, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 factors which they believe may have contributed to the collision, including ‘poor or defective road surface’. Contributory factors are assigned based on the opinions of the reporting officer at the scene or within a short time of the collision, rather than a detailed investigation.
The number of collisions in each of the last 10 years with the factor ‘poor or defective road surface’ assigned is published in table RAS0701 on gov.uk and reproduced below:
Year | Reported road collisions in England with ‘poor or defective road surface’ assigned as a contributory factor |
2014 | 660 |
2015 | 544 |
2016 | 519 |
2017 | 465 |
2018 | 446 |
2019 | 437 |
2020 | 376 |
2021 | 429 |
2022 | 432 |
2023 | 532 |
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding by the RAC in February 2024 that council road maintenance in England dropped by 45 per cent in 2022–23 compared to the five years previously; and whether road maintenance levels have improved since then.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department’s officials meet regularly with local authority representatives and other experts in the road maintenance industry to discuss best practice. Ministers have also met with key stakeholder groups, including the Pothole Partnership which comprises organisations representing road users and industry.
The Department agrees that local highway authorities should focus on preventative rather than reactive maintenance activities, and this advice is set out in the Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure, which is available online. The Department is committed to updating this guidance and has begun work to scope out urgently which parts need updating and how. The Department strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes, and encourages authorities to consider all parts of the highway network, such as bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns, and not just the fixing of potholes or resurfacing of roads.
Decisions on how much to spend on their local highway networks each year are matters for local highway authorities, who have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area. The Department for Transport collects and publishes on gov.uk each year data on authorities’ capital and revenue expenditure on their highway maintenance activities. The data shows that, at a national level, total spending on local road maintenance in the financial year 2022/23 was broadly similar to total spend in each of the previous five years.
This Government recognises the importance of well-maintained roads and has provided an additional £500m for highway maintenance for the year 2025/26 – a near 50% uplift on the current baseline. This has resulted in an 36% increase on average to individual local highway authority allocations, as well as providing highway maintenance funding top-ups to London authorities and mayoral areas already receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. These allocations can be found on gov.uk.
In addition, the Department is taking a number of steps to improve its understanding of the condition of local roads. It worked with the British Standards Institute and the highway sector to develop a new road condition data standard for local highway authorities, which was published last year. This will enable them to utilise new technologies, including AI, to identify potholes and other defects in their highway network more promptly.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve their understanding of the condition of local roads; and what plans they have to support local authorities to use exploit AI technologies that make it faster and easier to identify potholes.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department’s officials meet regularly with local authority representatives and other experts in the road maintenance industry to discuss best practice. Ministers have also met with key stakeholder groups, including the Pothole Partnership which comprises organisations representing road users and industry.
The Department agrees that local highway authorities should focus on preventative rather than reactive maintenance activities, and this advice is set out in the Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure, which is available online. The Department is committed to updating this guidance and has begun work to scope out urgently which parts need updating and how. The Department strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes, and encourages authorities to consider all parts of the highway network, such as bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns, and not just the fixing of potholes or resurfacing of roads.
Decisions on how much to spend on their local highway networks each year are matters for local highway authorities, who have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area. The Department for Transport collects and publishes on gov.uk each year data on authorities’ capital and revenue expenditure on their highway maintenance activities. The data shows that, at a national level, total spending on local road maintenance in the financial year 2022/23 was broadly similar to total spend in each of the previous five years.
This Government recognises the importance of well-maintained roads and has provided an additional £500m for highway maintenance for the year 2025/26 – a near 50% uplift on the current baseline. This has resulted in an 36% increase on average to individual local highway authority allocations, as well as providing highway maintenance funding top-ups to London authorities and mayoral areas already receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. These allocations can be found on gov.uk.
In addition, the Department is taking a number of steps to improve its understanding of the condition of local roads. It worked with the British Standards Institute and the highway sector to develop a new road condition data standard for local highway authorities, which was published last year. This will enable them to utilise new technologies, including AI, to identify potholes and other defects in their highway network more promptly.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which local authorities in England divert money from their roads budgets to fund other policy areas.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport allocates capital funding to local highways authorities to enable them to maintain and improve their respective networks, based on their local knowledge, circumstances, and priorities. The funding is paid out as a grant under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, and is unringfenced. It is up to each authority to decide how best to spend it to fulfil its statutory duty under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980.
Revenue funding for highway maintenance is provided to local authorities each year by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. This funding is also unringfenced.
The Department publishes maintenance expenditure on local roads on gov.uk each year based on local authority outturn receipts. These show that capital expenditure on the local highway network is consistently higher than the funding provided by the Department for highway maintenance activities, which suggests that generally local authorities are not using the capital funding provided by the Department for other purposes.
The Department intends to introduce new reporting requirements on local highway authorities for the 2025/26 financial year, which will require them to provide further information to ensure residents can see how they intend to use the funding provided by the Government.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet experts in the road maintenance industry, including the RAC, Road Surface Treatments Association, the Road Emulsion Association, and the Asphalt Industry Alliance, to discuss best practice.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department’s officials meet regularly with local authority representatives and other experts in the road maintenance industry to discuss best practice. Ministers have also met with key stakeholder groups, including the Pothole Partnership which comprises organisations representing road users and industry.
The Department agrees that local highway authorities should focus on preventative rather than reactive maintenance activities, and this advice is set out in the Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure, which is available online. The Department is committed to updating this guidance and has begun work to scope out urgently which parts need updating and how. The Department strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes, and encourages authorities to consider all parts of the highway network, such as bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns, and not just the fixing of potholes or resurfacing of roads.
Decisions on how much to spend on their local highway networks each year are matters for local highway authorities, who have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area. The Department for Transport collects and publishes on gov.uk each year data on authorities’ capital and revenue expenditure on their highway maintenance activities. The data shows that, at a national level, total spending on local road maintenance in the financial year 2022/23 was broadly similar to total spend in each of the previous five years.
This Government recognises the importance of well-maintained roads and has provided an additional £500m for highway maintenance for the year 2025/26 – a near 50% uplift on the current baseline. This has resulted in an 36% increase on average to individual local highway authority allocations, as well as providing highway maintenance funding top-ups to London authorities and mayoral areas already receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. These allocations can be found on gov.uk.
In addition, the Department is taking a number of steps to improve its understanding of the condition of local roads. It worked with the British Standards Institute and the highway sector to develop a new road condition data standard for local highway authorities, which was published last year. This will enable them to utilise new technologies, including AI, to identify potholes and other defects in their highway network more promptly.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what sums they have provided for the purposes of road maintenance to (1) Oxfordshire, and (2) Gloucestershire, county councils in the most recent financial year for which figures are available; and what assessment they have made of the extent to which this money has actually been spent on road maintenance.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Local highway authorities including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to maintain the highways network in their area. Dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely the responsibility of the relevant highway authority, and the Department has made no formal assessment of this matter.
The Department is providing over £1 billion of highway maintenance capital grant funding to local authorities in the current financial year. This funding goes to eligible local highway authorities across England, outside of London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. As a result of the funding increases announced at Budget 2023 and in the Prime Minister’s Network North programme, local highway authorities in England are generally receiving around 30% more highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport in the current financial year than in the previous financial year. The Network North programme includes an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance over the period up to 2033/34 to help fix the blight of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.
Funding allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk. Gloucestershire County Council received a total of £29.1 million of highway maintenance capital grant funding, and Oxfordshire County Council a total of £27.2 million, in the 2023/24 financial year. In each case this was an increase of around 30% compared to the 2022/23 financial year. The Department for Transport has asked local highway authorities to publish on their websites by 15 March 2024 plans setting out how the additional Network North highway maintenance funding will be used, and thereafter quarterly reports on how the funding has been spent.
The Department takes the condition of local roads very seriously. Well-planned, proactive, and good quality maintenance works are vital in preventing prevent potholes and other defects from forming. Councils that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent.
To ensure transparency in the condition of our local road networks, road condition statistics are published annually by the Department and are available on gov.uk. The Government is working with the British Standards Institution and the Transport Research Laboratory to develop a new data standard for assessing road condition to help local authorities identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the condition of the road network in England, particularly with regard to potholes, and (2) the efficacy of measures designed to address such road maintenance issues.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Local highway authorities including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to maintain the highways network in their area. Dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely the responsibility of the relevant highway authority, and the Department has made no formal assessment of this matter.
The Department is providing over £1 billion of highway maintenance capital grant funding to local authorities in the current financial year. This funding goes to eligible local highway authorities across England, outside of London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. As a result of the funding increases announced at Budget 2023 and in the Prime Minister’s Network North programme, local highway authorities in England are generally receiving around 30% more highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport in the current financial year than in the previous financial year. The Network North programme includes an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance over the period up to 2033/34 to help fix the blight of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.
Funding allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk. Gloucestershire County Council received a total of £29.1 million of highway maintenance capital grant funding, and Oxfordshire County Council a total of £27.2 million, in the 2023/24 financial year. In each case this was an increase of around 30% compared to the 2022/23 financial year. The Department for Transport has asked local highway authorities to publish on their websites by 15 March 2024 plans setting out how the additional Network North highway maintenance funding will be used, and thereafter quarterly reports on how the funding has been spent.
The Department takes the condition of local roads very seriously. Well-planned, proactive, and good quality maintenance works are vital in preventing prevent potholes and other defects from forming. Councils that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent.
To ensure transparency in the condition of our local road networks, road condition statistics are published annually by the Department and are available on gov.uk. The Government is working with the British Standards Institution and the Transport Research Laboratory to develop a new data standard for assessing road condition to help local authorities identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of local authority processes whereby motorists claim for vehicular damage arising from a lack of adequate road surface maintenance.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Local highway authorities including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to maintain the highways network in their area. Dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely the responsibility of the relevant highway authority, and the Department has made no formal assessment of this matter.
The Department is providing over £1 billion of highway maintenance capital grant funding to local authorities in the current financial year. This funding goes to eligible local highway authorities across England, outside of London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. As a result of the funding increases announced at Budget 2023 and in the Prime Minister’s Network North programme, local highway authorities in England are generally receiving around 30% more highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport in the current financial year than in the previous financial year. The Network North programme includes an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance over the period up to 2033/34 to help fix the blight of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.
Funding allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk. Gloucestershire County Council received a total of £29.1 million of highway maintenance capital grant funding, and Oxfordshire County Council a total of £27.2 million, in the 2023/24 financial year. In each case this was an increase of around 30% compared to the 2022/23 financial year. The Department for Transport has asked local highway authorities to publish on their websites by 15 March 2024 plans setting out how the additional Network North highway maintenance funding will be used, and thereafter quarterly reports on how the funding has been spent.
The Department takes the condition of local roads very seriously. Well-planned, proactive, and good quality maintenance works are vital in preventing prevent potholes and other defects from forming. Councils that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent.
To ensure transparency in the condition of our local road networks, road condition statistics are published annually by the Department and are available on gov.uk. The Government is working with the British Standards Institution and the Transport Research Laboratory to develop a new data standard for assessing road condition to help local authorities identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the percentage of the road network in England that is a danger to motorists as a result of inadequate road surface maintenance.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Local highway authorities including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to maintain the highways network in their area. Dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely the responsibility of the relevant highway authority, and the Department has made no formal assessment of this matter.
The Department is providing over £1 billion of highway maintenance capital grant funding to local authorities in the current financial year. This funding goes to eligible local highway authorities across England, outside of London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. As a result of the funding increases announced at Budget 2023 and in the Prime Minister’s Network North programme, local highway authorities in England are generally receiving around 30% more highway maintenance funding from the Department for Transport in the current financial year than in the previous financial year. The Network North programme includes an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance over the period up to 2033/34 to help fix the blight of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.
Funding allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk. Gloucestershire County Council received a total of £29.1 million of highway maintenance capital grant funding, and Oxfordshire County Council a total of £27.2 million, in the 2023/24 financial year. In each case this was an increase of around 30% compared to the 2022/23 financial year. The Department for Transport has asked local highway authorities to publish on their websites by 15 March 2024 plans setting out how the additional Network North highway maintenance funding will be used, and thereafter quarterly reports on how the funding has been spent.
The Department takes the condition of local roads very seriously. Well-planned, proactive, and good quality maintenance works are vital in preventing prevent potholes and other defects from forming. Councils that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent.
To ensure transparency in the condition of our local road networks, road condition statistics are published annually by the Department and are available on gov.uk. The Government is working with the British Standards Institution and the Transport Research Laboratory to develop a new data standard for assessing road condition to help local authorities identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.