Value for Money
The condition and maintenance of local roads in England
Published 23 July 2024
9 recommendations
Department for Transport, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Driving and road transportTransport
nao.org.uk
The condition of local roads in England is declining and the backlog to return them to a good state of repair is increasing.
Recommendations (9)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker · PAC follow-up below
Department for Transport
Rec 1
Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve the accuracy and completeness of its understanding of the condition of the local road network in England, DfT should review its coverage requirements for local authorities on surface condition reporting, making use of the advances in data collection and technology since these were first set to ensure it has the information it needs.
Department for Transport
Rec 2
Partially Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve the accuracy and completeness of its understanding of the condition of the local road network in England, DfT should request information on the condition of other key road network assets, such as bridges, where local authorities are already collecting these data and consider the frequency at which it should collect this information from all local authorities. Should DfT decide that regularly receiving this information would be useful, it should work with DLUHC to ensure effective and proportionate data-reporting requirements for local authorities.
Department for Transport
Rec 3
Accepted
Implemented
To improve its approach to funding local road maintenance, DfT should review its approach to allocating capital funding to local authorities for local road maintenance to ensure its allocative effectiveness. DfT should review how it can make better use of data to target allocations of funding where it is most needed.
Department for Transport
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
To improve its approach to funding local road maintenance, DfT should work with HM Treasury to set out how it will provide longer-term funding certainty to local authorities that will help better support preventative road maintenance approaches.
Department for Transport
Rec 5
Accepted
Implemented
To improve its approach to funding local road maintenance, DfT should consolidate the number of shorter-term funds through which local authorities receive funding for road maintenance. This should include consolidating funding pots that use similar mechanisms to allocate funds.
Department for Transport
Rec 6
Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve its approach to funding local road maintenance, DfT should update its use of incentivised funding and consider how it could use this to improve outcomes. DfT should ensure that it develops a rigorous approach to assuring itself that its incentive mechanism is delivering real improvements.
Department for Transport
Rec 7
Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve its approach to funding local road maintenance, DfT should develop an evaluative framework and use it to assess the impact of its investment in local road maintenance at the national level and to inform its future policy and investment approaches.
Department for Transport
Rec 8
Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve its support for local authorities and guidance on how to deliver effective and efficient highways maintenance, DfT should review the tools and guidance that it has provided to local authorities and set out how and when it will refresh them.
Department for Transport
Rec 9
Accepted
Work in Progress
To improve its support for local authorities and guidance on how to deliver effective and efficient highways maintenance, DfT should identify and fill gaps in guidance it provides to local authorities. This should include developing its understanding of where local authorities have expressed a need for greater direction and where new guidance is needed.
Parliamentary Committee Follow-Up
The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.
2nd Report - Condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England
Public Accounts Committee
· 17 January 2025
· 13 recommendations