Councils across England will be required to publicly report far more detail about how they repair roads and tackle potholes.

The new Government rules are designed to end the cycle of short-term patch repairs and improve accountability.

Doing the job

The measures, announced by the Department for Transport (DfT), will force local authorities to publish transparency reports showing not only how many potholes they repair, but also what action they are taking to prevent defects from recurring and how much road resurfacing is being carried out.

Councils that fail to comply could lose almost a third of their highways maintenance funding.

The changes form part of the Government’s wider effort to tackle what ministers have repeatedly described as Britain’s “pothole plague” and come alongside a record £7.3 billion package of long-term road maintenance funding for local authorities.

Roads Minister Simon Lightwood said the new requirements would help end the frustration felt by motorists over repeated temporary repairs.

“For too long, motorists have been left incensed by short-term work being prioritised over genuine long-term repairs,” he said.

“For the first time, not only will councils need to show just how many potholes they are filling in, but what they are doing to avoid going back to fix the same pothole time and again.”

Filled in

The reports, initially due to be published in September, will allow residents to compare their local authority’s performance and see how many roads are scheduled for resurfacing.

They will also feed into the Government’s red, amber and green rating system for local road maintenance performance.

The announcement comes against a backdrop of growing concern about the condition of Britain’s roads.

According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s latest ALARM survey, the backlog of carriageway repairs in England and Wales has reached a record £18.6 billion despite local authorities filling around 1.9 million potholes last year.

The same report estimates that councils would need an average of £145.9 million each to clear their road maintenance backlogs completely.

Driver aware

For motorists, the consequences are often expensive.

Government figures estimate pothole-related vehicle damage costs drivers around £500 on average.

At the same time, separate research suggests UK motorists collectively face repair bills running into billions of pounds annually due to poor road surfaces.

Common pothole-related repairs include damaged tyres, buckled wheels, suspension failures, steering problems and wheel alignment issues.

Motorcyclists and cyclists are particularly vulnerable, with road safety campaigners warning that potholes can contribute directly to serious collisions.

Pound for pound

Motoring organisations have long argued that reactive repairs represent poor value for money.

The RAC and AA have repeatedly called for a greater focus on preventative maintenance and resurfacing programmes rather than repeated patching of individual defects.

Similar concerns were highlighted by industry experts contributing to the latest ALARM report, who warned that “patch and dash” repairs often deteriorate quickly in poor weather.

The Government hopes the new reporting regime will encourage councils to invest more heavily in long-term solutions.

Local authorities will be expected to demonstrate the adoption of best-practice maintenance techniques, including preventive treatments and, where appropriate, full resurfacing schemes.

In a hole

While many road users have welcomed the additional scrutiny, local government representatives have previously argued that decades of underinvestment and rising maintenance costs have left councils struggling to keep pace with deteriorating road conditions.

The ALARM survey found that although highway maintenance budgets have risen significantly in recent years, many authorities still face substantial funding pressures.

For drivers frustrated by pothole damage and repeated repairs, the Government’s message is clear: councils will now have to prove they are fixing roads properly, or risk losing millions of pounds in funding.