The Department for Transport (DfT) has published updated requirements and new guidance for councils to complete this year's local roads maintenance transparency report, which English authorities must publish by 10 September or risk losing nearly a third of their DfT highways cash.

The reports will be used to update the red/amber/green (RAG) ratings first published by the Government earlier this year and are intended to demonstrate how councils are performing on maintenance compared to one another.

Following controversy over the first round of ratings, some councils even threatened to appeal. This time, the DfT has pledged: ‘As part of the process for finalising this year's local road maintenance ratings, we will give your authority the opportunity to review the information we have collated from your transparency report.'

This was a key ask from ADEPT, following local criticisms of the process.

The reports must also be accompanied by a technical annex, where authorities are asked to describe how they would evidence the answers they have given.

'You will not need to provide this evidence as part of your submission, but DfT will ask authorities for a targeted sample of this evidence following publication of their reports. Failure to provide this evidence, or discrepancies between the evidence and the reports could impact on your local road maintenance ratings for 2026-2027,' the DfT said.

Roads and buses minister, Simon Lightwood, said: ‘For too long motorists have been left incensed by short-term work being prioritised over genuine long-term repairs.'

‘For the first time not only will councils need to show just how many potholes they are filling in, but what they are doing to avoid going back to fix the same pothole time and again - something which understandably infuriates drivers.

‘This is backed by a record £7.3 billion investment to help councils deliver the long-term road repairs motorists deserve.'

Councils that were rated red when the RAG ratings were first published are also receiving additional support from the government, including a total of £300,000 worth of expert help to help them ‘raise their standards and fix more roads'.

RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, commented: ‘Aside from potholes themselves, there's nothing that annoys drivers more than ones that have been poorly repaired and become potholes again in a matter of weeks or months. Bad repairs are a waste of time and money, so it's positive the government is prioritising long-term fixes over short-term patching and dashing.

‘Potholes need to be fixed promptly and permanently as they are a serious road safety danger to those on two wheels, along with causing expensive damage to vehicles. The poor state of Britain's roads is drivers' biggest gripe, so it's good to see a new approach being taken. Fixing potholes once and carrying out preventative maintenance that stops them forming in the first place is a big step towards improving our roads for the future.'