Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

(asked on 16th October 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the condition of road infrastructure in England and how many potholes they have (1) identified and (2) filled to completion on (a) roads and (b) pedestrian pavements.


This question was answered on 25th October 2023

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

The Department annually collects and publishes information on GOV.UK regarding the condition of roads in England, covering surface condition, skidding resistance, and highway maintenance treatments and expenditure. This information comes from surveys which identify a series of road surface defects, although some of these defects may be related to potholes, the number of potholes cannot be recorded. The most recent release can be read on GOV.UK.

The Department does not hold information on the condition of footpaths, this information will be held by local authorities for their own asset management needs.

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