Ministers have named and shamed 13 councils for failing to do enough to repair potholes.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has published a dashboard that shows each area’s progress in the upkeep of public roads.
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A traffic light ranking system has been applied to each local highway authority (LHA), which scores their performance in spending a £7.3bn pothole fund released by Rachel Reeves last year.
Councils that do not spend the money effectively, or leave roads unrepaired, have received a red rating, while a handful have been rated as green.
The councils were scored on three measures: the condition of the roads, their spending record and “best practice” for repairs.
The 13 worst offenders include five councils run by the Conservatives, four run by Labour, three run by Reform UK and one by the Liberal Democrats.
Labour had the smallest proportion of its councils with a red rating – 5 per cent of a total 83 councils – while Reform scored the worst, with a quarter of its 12 councils rated red.
The red areas were Bedford, Bolton, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea, Leicestershire, North Lincolnshire, Slough, Suffolk, Waltham Forest, West Northamptonshire and Westmorland and Furness.
Labour also had the most councils rated green, with eight of the 15 best areas in Britain, while Reform had just one – Worcestershire.
The remaining 125 areas received an amber rating. Whitehall sources said a council was only likely to be rated green if it had spent its entire pothole funding grant on road repairs, and demonstrated a long-term plan for maintenance in future.
Reform and Lib Dem councils ranked equally badly for the state of their roads, with 16.7 per cent of councils given a red rating for condition.
On spending, Tory councils fared worst, with 19.2 per cent rated red, while Reform performed worst for maintenance best practice.
Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, said the dashboard would let the public “see how well councils are doing in delivering the improvements they want to see in their local area”.
“For too long drivers have paid the price because our roads were left to deteriorate,” she said.
“I have heard time and again their frustration on footing the bill because they hit a pothole – money they should never have to spend in the first place.
“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.”
Fixing potholes is usually a local political issue that is not managed by Westminster.
However, Labour strategists believe a strong performance in fixing roads will help the party show the public it has delivered meaningful change on issues that affect voters’ day to day lives.
Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, is understood to have taken a personal interest in pothole policy from inside Downing Street.
Ministers hope that the £7.3bn funding settlement for road repairs over four years would allow cash-strapped councils to invest in longer-term pothole prevention measures, rather than patching holes when they arise.
There are also concerns that councils have spent money intended for potholes on other issues.
Councils have been told to publish data on the number of potholes they have fixed, or lose out on 25 per cent of their future funding from the DfT.
Edmund King, the president of the AA, said: “The top transport demand for 96 per cent of AA members is fixing potholes with increased investment in repairing and upgrading roads.
“We welcome this government initiative to hold local highways authorities to account which should help to promote the Pothole Partnership objective of more proactive and permanent repairs.”
Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, said: “The Labour Government are waging war on their own councils. It is refreshing to have Labour ministers laying bare just how badly Labour-run councils handle basic road repairs.
“If you live in Bolton, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, or any of the other Labour councils up for election in May, this map is the warning label. Conservative-run councils like Hillingdon and Essex get on with fixing roads.
“A map won’t stop tyres blowing or suspensions snapping. Motorists, already being squeezed tight by Labour, deserve real action to back them – only the Conservatives will deliver that.”
The Telegraph
