Overview
- An interactive DfT map now grades all 154 local highway authorities on road condition, use of central maintenance funds and adherence to best practice, with 13 councils given an overall red rating.
- Red-rated authorities — including Bedford, Bolton, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea, Leicestershire, North Lincolnshire, Slough, Suffolk, Waltham Forest, Westmorland and Furness, and West Northamptonshire — are offered a £300,000 expert support programme.
- The Government says £7.3bn is committed for local road maintenance to 2029/30, with part of last year’s uplift withheld until councils set out plans, and future allocations signalled to be performance-linked.
- Several councils placed in red dispute the findings and methodology, with Kensington and Chelsea, Derbyshire, Greenwich, Bolton and others challenging data accuracy or how the overall scores were calculated.
- Stakeholder groups including the AA, RAC and British Cycling welcome the public ratings as a spur to more proactive, longer-term repairs, while reports highlight some authorities scoring zero on the spending metric because highways funds are not ring-fenced.