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.
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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.
