The worst councils for pothole repairs: Who's on England's road maintenance wall of shame?

The worst councils in England for responding to pothole repairs have been named and shamed by a new Government map that aims to “highlight best practice and drive improved performance”.

Published by the Department for Transport, the map is drawn up using data from the local road maintenance rating system. This evaluates each Local Highway Authority (LHA) on the overall condition of the network of roads within its constituency, plus its maintenance practices and expenditure. Each LHA is then assigned a colour – red, amber or green – depending on its performance.

Of the 154 LHAs in England, the vast majority were assigned the Amber rating, meaning that results were “mixed”. But the lowest Red rating was given to 13 councils: Bedford, Bolton, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea, Leicestershire, North Lincolnshire, Slough, Suffolk, Waltham Forest, West Northamptonshire and finally, Westmorland and Furness.

There were several, however, that managed to achieve the top ‘Green’ rating, despite this requiring a tough-to-get score of more that 80 out of 100. These were Coventry, Darlington, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hillingdon, Leeds, Lewisham, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Rotherham, Sandwell, West Berkshire, Wigan, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. 

So why does all of this matter? According to the RAC, an average of just over £3.5 million is paid out by councils every year to drivers claiming for pothole damage to their cars, at an average of £390 per claim.

Head of policy Simon Williams explained: “These new ratings are a positive move that will help drivers understand how councils are performing when it comes to improving the state of local roads. 

“While there are examples of good road maintenance practice taking place,” he said, “this isn’t consistent across the country and means drivers have, for too long, been left with sub-standard roads.” 

It’s also worth acknowledging that while some councils may have wanted to withhold their data to avoid embarrassment, a policy launched by the Government last year means failing to do so could risk them losing 25 per cent of their road maintenance cash. 

Going forward, the DfT says allocated funding will be “linked to performance, ensuring councils are encouraged to get on with the job and use taxpayer money efficiently to repair and maintain their roads before potholes form.” Those having been rated Red will also benefit from a share of £300,000 in what the Government describes as “expert planning and capability assistance.”

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “We’ve put our money where our mouth is, increasing the funding for local highway authorities with £7.3 billion to fix roads and given them the long-term certainty they have been asking for. Now it’s over to them to spend the money wisely, and for the first time, we are making sure the public can see how well councils are doing in delivering the improvements they want to see in their local area.”

* Based on incomplete carriageway treatment data.

** No spend rating for local highway authorities with separate highways maintenance funding arrangements.

*** The overall rating based on incomplete road condition data.

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