Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Accepted
Reactive pothole repairs prove inefficient and less cost-effective than proactive road maintenance.
Conclusion
However, potholes are just a symptom of poor road conditions and, as we heard, they are not necessarily being fixed properly or efficiently so money is just being wasted.41 For example, the AA told us that in its view too much is being spent on short-term reactive maintenance, including only temporarily repairing potholes, relative to more proactive, permanent repairs which provide better value for money.42 The Road Haulage Association told us that planned works cost an average of 35% less than reactive repairs in England.43
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the implicit recommendation to address inefficient spending, planning a feasibility study in 2025 to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for local highways maintenance funding, aiming for operation in 2026 and regular evaluation reports by Spring 2027.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2027 5.2 To ensure the development of a robust and proportionate monitoring and evaluation framework, the department plans to commission a feasibility study in 2025 to understand the current state of evidence, evidence gaps and data collection mechanisms in local authorities. This will then help scope evaluation questions and identify appropriate approaches for monitoring and evaluating the department’s local highways maintenance funding. 5.3 Following the completion of the feasibility study and dependent on its recommendations, a monitoring and evaluation framework will be developed for operation in 2026, with the aim of generating regular evaluation reports, to help understand the effectiveness and impact of the department’s capital funding support for local highways authorities. 5.4 A key part of the monitoring and evaluation framework will be to utilise national data collection mechanisms to understand the effects of the funding on road condition. This could include, for example, data on local roads maintenance gathered through the new Integrated Settlement outcomes framework for Mayoral Combined Authorities. It could also utilise any other data shared by local highways authorities to access their full funding in financial year 2025-26, part of which is being held back until local authorities can prove that they are meeting certain criteria. The department will engage with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local government during the design and delivery of the evaluation given their responsibility for the overall funding system for local government.