These are the responses Bill Wiggin MP has received from Government Ministers regarding roads:

September 2021

Letter from Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Questions

Answer

“Local highway authorities, including Herefordshire County Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. Local highways teams, including private contractors, are accountable to the local authority they are working for.

Whilst the Government does not intervene in highway maintenance decisions, to support local highway maintenance, the Department paid £1.346 billion in 2018/19, £926 million in 2019/20, and £1.526 billion in 2020/21 through formula allocated funding, including the Pothole Fund. This funding was provided to all eligible local highway authorities in England, outside London. The Department has not been approached by any authority with regards to DfT assuming responsibility over parts of their respective local road networks.

The Department endorses ‘Well-managed highway infrastructure: A Code of Practice’ by the UK Roads Liaison Group. This guidance takes an integrated, risk-based approach to managing highway infrastructure. The Department also worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport to publish ‘Potholes: a repair guide’ which offers practical advice to highway authorities.

Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects forming on the roads is vital; Councils that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent. The Department has no current plans to reward the local authority that repairs the most potholes as this could discourage a more effective preventative approach, linked to highway asset management best practice.

Highway maintenance activities cover a wide range of granular works, and there is no specific requirement for Councils such as Herefordshire to demonstrate how they spend their share of funding, including the Pothole Action Fund. The Department also has made no estimate of the amount Herefordshire Council paid out for claims for potholes in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The matter of insurance and dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely a matter for Herefordshire Council as the relevant highway authority, who have delegated statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining their roads as set out in the Highways Act 1980 (as amended).

Whilst the Department for Transport encourages local highway authorities to be innovative it is not for Government to intervene or endorse any specific commercial product as it is entirely their decision as to which products to use. In 2019 DfT provided £22.9 million for the ADEPT Live Labs programme, to help develop innovative approaches across communications, materials, energy solutions, and mobility on the local highway network.”

Question

Answer

“The article was owned and published by National Highways, so its removal is a matter for them. The second Road Investment Strategy, published in March 2020 commits National Highways to maintaining and upgrading the road surface across its network through its renewals programme, while investing in the latest road resurfacing technologies through a Designated Fund for Innovation and Modernisation.”

Questions

Answer

“Local highway authorities, including Herefordshire County Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. Local highways teams, including private contractors, are accountable to the local authority they are working for. The Department for Transport is not routinely informed of the detailed breakdown of spend on the local highway network, as authorities are best placed to understand how to maintain their respective networks, based on local needs and priorities.

The Department has regular meetings with the UK Roads Liaison Group, Local Government Association and Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport. In addition, the Department endorses ‘Well-managed highway infrastructure the Code of Practice for highway maintenance’ by the UK Roads Liaison Group.

This guidance takes an integrated, risked based approach to managing highway infrastructure. The Department also worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport to publish ‘Potholes: a repair guide’ which guide offers practical advice to highway authorities.

Of course, well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects forming on the roads is vital. Councils that do this well get better value for every pound spent and improve their customer satisfaction. So, from 2016/17, this Government introduced an incentive element and a self-assessment questionnaire to help encourage local highway authorities to manage their road networks better and achieve greater efficiencies.”

June 2020

Question

Answer

“Whilst the Department has no current plan to improve road safety specifically in Herefordshire, the Department’s Safer Roads Fund will benefit the wider area. In 2017 £2.16 million was awarded to improve the A4173 in Gloucestershire and in 2018 £3.89 million was awarded to improve the A529 in Shropshire. These improvements will also benefit the constituents of Hereford as they travel further afield.

In July 2019, the Government published the Road Safety Statement 2019: ‘A Lifetime of Road Safety. This includes a two-year action plan to address a range of road safety issues which will improve safety for all road users, including establishing a working group to address rural road safety issues.”

Question

Answer

“The Department does not collect data on potholes in road accidents specifically.

Detailed final statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2019 will be published in September 2020.The latest annual published statistics are for 2018.

There were 2 reported personal injury road accidents where a contributory factor of ‘poor or defective road surface’ was reported in Herefordshire in 2018.“

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Answer

“Potholes are a menace to all road users, including business. The Government announced in the Budget 2020, the Pothole Fund, which will help support local highway authorities repair potholes nationwide, including those in Herefordshire.

The Department for Transport is allocating £1.7 billion in 2020/21 financial year to local highway authorities in England, outside London, for local highways maintenance and this includes £500 million from the Pothole Fund. The Department is providing Herefordshire Council with £18.8 million this financial year and it is for the Council to decide on how this funding is utilised based on their highway asset management strategy, needs and priorities.

Whilst the Department has not made a specific assessment of the prevalence of potholes on trade and commerce, the Department is aware research into this area has highlighted the problem which potholes cause to business and commerce. This is a further example of why it is so important to tackle this issue, and why we are committed to funding pothole repair.”

May 2019

Question

Answer

“I refer my Honourable Friend to the answer I gave on 13 February 2019 (Hansard, 217499) which provided details of the funding the Department for Transport has allocated to Herefordshire County Council, as local highway authority, for the repair of roads and associated local highway assets since 2015.”

February 2019

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Answer

“Herefordshire County Council, as local highway authority is responsible for the maintenance of the local road network, including North Herefordshire.

The funding provided by the Department for Transport for highway maintenance, including pothole repair, to Herefordshire County Council since 2015 is shown in the table below. The table highlights the Department for Transport allocated the authority an additional £5.1 million this financial year to support local highways maintenance services, including the repair of roads.”

YearFunding StreamFunding £m
2015/16Highways Maintenance Block11.523
2016/17Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.210
2016/17Pothole Action Fund0.674
2017/18Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.229
2017/18Pothole Action Fund1.529
2017/18Flood Resilience Fund0.610
2018/19Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.218
2018/19Pothole Action Fund0.642
2018/19Budget £420 million5.108
Total53.743

October 2015

Question

Answer

“At the Summer Budget the government announced the creation of a Roads Fund so that from 2020 all money raised from VED in England will be invested in the Roads Fund and used to improve the English strategic road network. The latest figures for VED revenue can be found in Table C.3 of Summer Budget 2015, which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-budget-2015(opens in a new tab). Revenue raised for previous years can be found in the relevant Budget document.”

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Answer

“The Department for Transport has not commissioned any research in respect to the condition of rural roads.

In December 2014 it was announced how this Government is allocating record funding of just under £6 billion to local authorities in England, outside London, for highways maintenance between 2015 and 2021. This funding can be used to fix potholes and improve the condition of the rural road network depending on the priorities and needs of the respective highway authority.

The following weblink provides information on how much funding is to be allocated between now and 2021 to local highway authorities for local highways maintenance. The funding is based on a formula which includes the length of carriageway an authority is responsible for rather than need:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations-201516-to-202021(opens in a new tab)

Herefordshire County Council will receive over £60 million between 2015 and 2021 from this funding.”

May 2015

Question

Answer

“My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 23 December 2014 funding allocations for local highway authorities in England between 2015/16 and 2020/21. This includes over £60 million for Herefordshire. This funding can be used to reduce the number of potholes on the local road network.

It is for each local highway authority to improve the condition of the local road network through planned preventative maintenance. The Department for Transport’s role is to support local authorities through the provision of funding and by sharing good practice.

Further information on the funding allocations can be found at the following address: http://maps.dft.gov.uk/local-highways-maintenance-funding/“