Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, when her Department told local authorities which data sets were to be used to complete this assessment.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Prime Minister announced on 24 March 2025 that local highway authorities would be rated on their progress in maintaining local roads and highways. This was announced alongside the introduction of new reporting requirements for local highway authorities for the 2025/26 financial year, including a requirement to publish transparency reports to improve transparency for local residents so they can see how funding is being spent.
On the same day, the Director General for the Road Transport Group in the Department for Transport wrote to Chief Executives of all local highway authorities setting out the details and data that needed to be included in those transparency reports.
The ratings used the data provided in local highway authority transparency reports, as well as official statistics. Further information on the data sources used is published online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/methodology-used-to-calculate-ratings-for-local-road-maintenance.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →