Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 16
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 told us that it has to strike the balance between asking for more information and the increased burden of work for each local authority to provide that information, and that there are limits placed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It acknowledged, however, that many local authorities already collect more data than required by the Department, which they use for their own operational purposes.27 In addition, the Department noted that when evaluating one of its funding pots, local authorities had expressed a willingness to provide more data.28 The Department told us that the increase in reporting the proportion of the road network that falls into the five new categories is broadly supported by local authorities, but will be subject to formal approval by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Department also confirmed that it is currently reviewing the broader requirements for local authority data collection on highway maintenance.29 24 Qq 6-8; Written evidence submitted by the Department for Transport dated 5 December 2024 ‘Local roads in England – PAS2161 Road Condition Monitoring Data Standard’ 25 Q 20 26 Qq 21, 26, 31 27 Qq 14, 18, 20-21, 23, 26, 31 28 Q 34 29 Written evidence submitted by the Department for Transport dated 05 December ‘Local roads in England – PAS2161 Road Condition Monitoring Data Standard’ 12 2 The Department’s funding to local authorities Complexity and short-term nature of funding arrangements
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".