Local authorities across England will have to show taxpayers that they are doing more to tackle potholes.
The government now requires each council to produce a highways maintenance transparency report. This details how well they repair roads, and how they are avoiding repeat visits to the same location.
The measures are designed to encourage local authorities to deal with broken tarmac properly through complete resurfacing, rather than short-term patch repairs.
Reports must be made public by September 2026, allowing residents across England to see how effective their council is at dealing with the ‘pothole plague’ affecting the nation’s roads.
Financial penalties will follow for local authorities that fail to publish their road maintenance reports on time.
Holding local authorities accountable
The new transparency reports will feed into the government’s existing road maintenance rating map, which scores local authorities on a red/amber/green scale for how effectively they tackle potholes.
A green rating will be given to councils that show they are taking preventive measures to ensure long-term pothole prevention.
However, local authorities that fail to publish their reports on time will have almost a third of this year’s funding held back to ensure they are transparent with taxpayers.
This could see up to £545 million withheld from a total budget of £1.6 billion allocated to highway maintenance for this year.
Local authorities that receive a red rating will receive additional support from the government, with a pool of £300,000 available to help councils improve their standards of road repairs using expert advice.
An end to councils ‘patching and dashing’
Roads and Buses Minister Simon Lightwood said: “For too long motorists have been left incensed by short-term work being prioritised over genuine long-term repairs. Thanks to our new guidance, that changes today.
“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 – something which understandably infuriates drivers.
“This is backed by a record £7.3 billion investment to help councils deliver the long-term road repairs motorists deserve.”
Following the announcement of the new transparency reports, Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, commented: “Aside from potholes themselves, there’s nothing that annoys drivers more than ones that have been poorly repaired and become potholes again in a matter of weeks or months.
“Bad repairs are a waste of time and money, so it’s positive the government is prioritising long-term fixes over short-term patching and dashing.”
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