Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 2
2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England
Published 17 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department has insufficient knowledge of the condition of local roads. Industry estimates show that the condition of local roads across England is getting worse, which is also reflected in falling public satisfaction and higher levels of pothole related incidents. However, while the Department’s own data shows the condition of local roads has remained relatively stable, it accepts that this may not reflect people’s experiences. DfT acknowledges that its data in some areas is poor and that it does not fully understand the condition of local roads in England. It is therefore implementing new data standards — PAS 2161 — with the aim of improving the quality and granularity of the data that it gathers from local authorities, although this will not be mandatory until April 2026. In addition, the Department will still not collect information on the condition of other parts of the road, including walkways, cycle paths and bridges from local authorities. The Department says that it does not ask local authorities for 4 further information as it is trying to strike the balance between asking for enough information and not creating a large burden of work for each local authority. We are unconvinced that DfT has fully considered what additional burdens would be created in practice, as much of this data may already be collected by local authorities. recommendation The Department should make the case, with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for obtaining the data it needs to gain a greater understanding of the condition of the local road network.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England (HC 349), 17 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations, disagrees with the recommendation to revise the funding allocation method (while agreeing to review the funding formula), and gives target implementation dates for each agreed item.
- On funding allocation, the government disagrees with the recommendation but "agrees to review the funding formula"; it "cannot commit to any changes" until options are assessed for feasibility and deliverability, and the earliest any change could take effect is the start of financial year 2026-27.
- On funding certainty, the government agrees and "intends to move to multi-year funding settlements in future", and the department "intends to consolidate" local highways maintenance funding streams so authorities receive one funding line only.
- On data and responsibilities, the government agrees; the department will publish a short Gov.UK document summarising legal responsibilities (target April 2026), and has begun engagement on making reporting against PAS 2161 "a mandatory requirement in England".
- On the Code of Practice, the government agrees it should be refreshed (target September 2026) and will "consider further whether, and if so how" authorities might be required to follow best practice to qualify for funding; it says linking this to the incentive element directly is not "feasible".