Roads: repairs and maintenance

(asked on 24th April 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of insurance claims for pot-hole damage has been to the public purse in the last 12 months.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 2nd May 2018

In England, Highways England is responsible for the strategic road network, that is motorways and major A roads. Local roads, making up around 98% of the road network, fall under the responsibility of the relevant local highway authority. Highways maintenance in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is a devolved matter and therefore falls under the responsibility of the respective Devolved Administrations. The Department is providing local authorities in England, outside London, with funding of £6.2 billion for local highways maintenance and to help repair potholes or stop them forming.

The Department for Transport does not hold information on what the estimated cost of insurance claims has been to the public purse in the last 12 months due to pothole damage. The matter of insurance and dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely a matter for the relevant highway authority, who have delegated statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining their roads as set out in the Highways Act 1980 (as amended).

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