DfT “Does Not Have A Good Enough Understanding” of UK Road Conditions

The fact that UK road conditions are bad hardly needs saying, but whether the Department for Transport is doing all it can to improve those conditions has been examined in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The NAO’s report acknowledged that the Department for Transport (DfT) has maintained annual funding of between £1.1–£1.6 billion to local authorities for the maintenance and repair of local roads, which make up 98 per cent of the total UK road network.

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However, the report found that local authorities actually spent £2.1 billion on road repairs in 2022-23, when they received £1.1 billion of DfT funding.

Despite the money spent by local authorities on the issue, the NAO report cited an Asphalt Industry Alliance survey which found that less than half (48 per cent) of the UK’s local roads are in what it called “good structural condition”. This is in contrast to DfT data, which suggests that up to 67 per cent of local roads are in good condition.

As a result, the NAO report suggests that the data collected by DfT on local road conditions, which the report describes as “limited”, is either incorrect or being incorrectly interpreted.

“At present,” the report reads, “DfT does not have a good enough understanding of the condition of local roads and does not use the limited data it does have to allocate its funding as effectively as possible. It does not know whether the funds it allocates are delivering improvements in road condition, and has not updated its guidance to local authorities, to share good practice and help them make the most of their limited funds, for some years.”

The report also said that “Given the fiscal constraints, it is essential that DfT secures maximum value from the funding it has available.” This, the NAO’s report concluded, is something the DfT has not achieved, because of the aforementioned “limited” data collection.

The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, described the report as “damning”, and said that it is “staggering” that the DfT does not know how effectively the funding it is providing to councils is being spent.

“This is sadly yet more damning evidence that England’s local roads are in a truly dire state of repair,” Williams said.

“It’s bad enough that historically the Government doesn’t really know just how bad our roads are. But it’s absolutely staggering that it doesn’t know whether the money it gives to councils has been used effectively.”