Hull and East Riding Councils ranked on government’s new pothole map
Drivers in the area will now be able to see how effectively their councils are tackling potholes
A new government map ranking councils’ pothole fixing has been published.
Both Hull City Council and East Riding Council have been ranked in the new traffic light rating system.
Drivers in the area will now be able to see how effectively their councils are tackling potholes, with each local authority being graded on a green, amber, and red scale. The map ranks the council on how they are spending the Government’s £30million funding to fix potholes and invest in long term measures to maintain roads.
The councils have been ranked on three categories – condition, spend, and wider best practice – with both Hull and East Riding receiving an ‘amber’ ranking overall. In the individual categories, Hull received greens in both condition and spend, whilst East Riding scored a red in spend.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “For too long drivers in Yorkshire and the Humber have paid the price because our roads were left to deteriorate. I have heard time and again their frustration on footing the bill because they hit a pothole – money they should never have to spend in the first place.
“We’ve put our money where our mouth is, increasing the funding in Yorkshire and the Humber with £500 million to fix roads and given them the long-term certainty they have been asking for. Now it’s over to them to spend the money wisely, and for the first time we are making sure the public can see how well local highway authorities are doing in delivering the improvements they want to see in their local area. This Government’s record investment will save drivers money on repairs, make roads safer and help restore pride in our communities.”
Councils’ reaction
Both councils have responded to the Government’s new map. A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “The Department for Transport (DfT) provides funding to councils for road maintenance rather than specifically for potholes and the evaluation relates to our performance in maintaining the highways.
“Once we receive details on the evaluation, we will be working to see how we can improve our performance. Details on how we plan road improvements are given on our webpage Highways planned maintenance, which includes details of our spending for the last five years in our Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report.
“At the time of the Transparency Report, our highway maintenance funding for this year was expected to be a total of £31.2m. With the support of additional maintenance funding from the DfT, we have spent an extra £3m on our local roads on the previous year on improving road conditions. East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Hull City Council will be working with the Mayoral Combined Authority to work up future road maintenance plans.”
A spokesperson from Hull City Council said: “The recently published “local highway maintenance ratings” show Hull City Council has been allocated an overall rating of “amber”. This is alongside 124 other local authorities out of the 154 that were reviewed across the country.
“The council’s current approach to road maintenance is in accordance with “the well-managed highway infrastructure code of practice” and is predominantly driven by risk-based assessments of the highway network. Whilst the council welcomes the amber rating, it will continue to maintain the city’s road network to the highest possible standard. Further information on the condition of our local roads and funding allocations available on our website https://www.hull.gov.uk/roads-pavements/highways-planned-maintenance-work.”
In addition, the leader of Hull City Council, Cllr Mike Ross, has called on the government to “go further” with support. He said: “Here in Hull, we’re working hard all year round to fix potholes on the streets, which is reflected in our rating. However, the government need to go further and faster to support us with more funding so we can deliver residents the pothole-free roads they deserve.
“These potholes in our roads are a direct result of years of government neglect towards local government. Residents don’t need a pothole coloured dashboard from the Government. They need long-term resources from the Government to stop potholes coming back year after year.”