Cambridgeshire residents among least satisfied with state of local roads

Public satisfaction with how often potholes are seen is no better than 10 percent in more than one-third of English council areas including Cambridgeshire, new research has revealed. The AA described the figures as "dismal" and called for an end to a "vicious cycle" where potholes are temporarily fixed only to reappear.

It examined the most recent findings from an annual survey of more than 71,000 residents carried out for the National Highways and Transport Network – a performance research organisation separate from the Government's own National Highways – in the summer.

Survey participants were asked whether the number of potholes and damaged roads in their area had improved, deteriorated, or remained unchanged compared to the previous year. The average satisfaction score among residents across 36 of 96 local authorities that took part did not exceed 10 percent

READ MORE: The autumnal Norfolk beach walk with a bus that takes you back to the start

READ MORE: ‘Urgent need’ for health centre at major Cambridgeshire development

Among these are councils serving Cambridgeshire (7 percent), Devon (8 percent), Essex (7 percent), Lancashire (7 percent), and Staffordshire (6 percent). East Sussex, Herefordshire and Nottinghamshire fared worst, each scoring just 5 percent. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, eight areas achieved scores of 20 percent or higher, including Luton (24 percent), Manchester (24 percent), and Southwark in central London (35 percent).

AA president Edmund King told the PA news agency: "Public satisfaction with the condition of local roads is at rock-bottom in too many places. Approval scores for changes in road conditions are dismal, even though we applaud those councils courageous enough to take part in the survey and subject themselves to public scrutiny.

"It has to be a priority to find out why large sums of money in grants and Government funds are failing to change public opinion. We often have a vicious circle of: pothole formed, damage caused, pothole patched, pothole reappears with more damage caused."

A senior civil servant told MPs last week that there is a difference between what the Government’s local road condition statistics show and public perception. Dame Bernadette Kelly, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport, said official figures suggest the situation is "stable" but said there is "a gap between our headline position and what most people’s experience of local roads looks and feels like".

Dame Kelly told the Public Accounts Committee the Government has introduced a new standard for councils to report the condition of their roads, which means there are now five possible ratings rather than three. Local authorities are also encouraged to use new technology to make sure the data gathered is more detailed and robust.

Mr King welcomed the new reporting system but said he was concerned that the bedding-in process will take until 2027. He said: "The pothole scourge needs sorting out now, with Government grants targeted efficiently and effectively."

The cost of repairing England and Wales' pothole-ridden local roads has been estimated at £16.3 billion. In last month's Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to increase local roads maintenance funding in England by £500 million to nearly £1.6 billion – with goals to fix an additional one million potholes in the 2024/25 financial year.

Adam Hug, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: "Many factors affect repair rates, from the type of road and traffic levels, to inflation and ongoing pressures from other council services. The extra £500 million announced in the Budget for local roads will help, although greater long-term investment is needed if we are to reduce the £16.3 billion repair backlog.

"Councils' highways departments also need five-yearly funding allocations, on a par with National Highways, to give them more certainty to develop resurfacing programmes. The upcoming Spending Review provides an opportunity to give councils greater, longer-term funding certainty."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "For too long, this country has suffered from a pothole plague, which is why we're investing a further £500 million in local highways maintenance funding next year, going beyond our original commitment to support local leaders to fix up to a million more potholes annually. We want to achieve this in the most cost-efficient way for the taxpayer by providing local authorities with multi-year funding settlements, enabling them to better maintain their roads and avoid potholes in the first place."

The survey was conducted by research company Ipsos. The 36 council areas which achieved satisfaction scores of no more than 10 percent are as follows:

• Blackburn with Darwen (10%)

• Blackpool (9%)

• Brighton and Hove (10%)

• Bury (8%)

• Calderdale (10%)

• Cambridgeshire (7%)

• Cumberland (9%)

• Derbyshire (6%)

• Devon (8%)

• East Sussex (5%)

• Essex (7%)

• Gloucestershire (10%)

• Hampshire (7%)

• Herefordshire (5%)

• Kent (9%)

• Kirklees (9%)

• Lancashire (7%)

• Medway (9%)

• Middlesbrough (7%)

• North Somerset (10%)

• North Yorkshire (9%)

• Nottinghamshire (5%)

• Plymouth (9%)

• Redcar and Cleveland (9%)

• Shropshire (6%)

• Somerset (9%)

• South Gloucestershire (9%)

• South Tyneside (10%)

• Staffordshire (6%)

• Stockton-on-Tees (10%)

• Torbay (7%)

• Trafford (10%)

• West Northamptonshire (7%)

• West Sussex (6%)

• Wigan (7%)

• Wiltshire (9%)