Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many potholes were reported per mile of road in (a) rural and (b) urban local authorities in England in the last three years.

The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of pothole reports made to local authorities. Under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, local highway authorities are responsible for the condition of their local road networks, including responding to reports of defects such as potholes.

Data on the number of potholes repaired by each local highway authority during the last five years is published in authorities’ highways maintenance transparency reports, which set out how they are maintaining their network. The Department does not use this data to produce an assessment of pothole repairs per capita, or per mile of road split by rural and urban authorities.