New map plots pothole repair progress

A new traffic light system is showing how effective councils are at road repairs – and a mapping tool produced by the the Department for Transport (DfT) shows most local highway authorities need to do better.

Among the 154 local authorities which appear on the map, those marked as red – which are the least effective at spending government road maintenance funding include Cumberland, Cumbria, Bolton, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Suffolk, and Kensington and Chelsea.

The DfT said these red authorities will receive: "dedicated support to bring them into line with best practices" through a £300,000 programme.

‘Green’ authorities including Coventry, Darlington, Essex, Leeds and Wiltshire have been identified as following best practice. This includes measures such as investing in long-term preventative repairs and maintenance rather than just patching up potholes, according to the DfT.

However, the remaining authorities — including Transport for London —  have been rated as amber, which means progress has been made, but they are falling short of best practice.

Nationwide local maintenance funding currently sits at £1.6 billion, but according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, the bill to fix the pothole crisis stands at £17bn. Alarmingly, more than half of the local roads in England and Wales have less than 15 years’ life, and of these,  34,600 miles may only last a further five years.

In March 2025, local councils were told to report on their road maintenance progress and indicate how they would spend the funding, or risk losing a share of £125m.

AA president, Edmund King, said fixing potholes is the "top transport demand" for 96% of its members, and hopes the new ratings system will promote "more proactive and permanent repairs".

Head of Policy at the RAC, Simon Williams, welcomed the move, but said road maintenance was a postcode lottery: "While there are examples of good road maintenance practice taking place, this isn't consistent across the country and means drivers have for too long been left with substandard roads.

"We hope this initiative, plus the promise of longer-term funding for councils to allow them to plan and carry out much-needed preventative maintenance, means we're finally on the way to having smoother, better roads."

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: "We've put our money where our mouth is, increasing the funding for local highway authorities with £7.3bn to fix roads and given them the long-term certainty they have been asking for. Now it's over to them to spend the money wisely, and for the first time we are making sure the public can see how well councils are doing in delivering the improvements they want to see in their local area.”

But Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said "a map won't stop tyres blowing or suspensions snapping. Motorists, already being squeezed tight by Labour, deserve real action to back them."

Read more: Pothole damage claim: how to get compensated and report a pothole

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