Official Statistics

Road conditions in England to March 2023

Published 23 November 2023

Applies to England

About this release

This annual release presents information on the condition of roads in England, covering surface condition, skidding resistance and highway maintenance treatments and expenditure.

Automated survey machines and visual surveys are used by local authorities and National Highways (NH) to monitor the condition of the road surface.

Figures in this report only include local authorities with valid data available. Data is available for fewer London local authorities for the last 4 years in this release, due to changes to how surveys in London were carried out. We estimate that this has had limited impact on the headline figures throughout this period.

Data coverage:

Data is collected over different durations (2 to 4 years) for different parts of the road network. For improved readability, this publication cites the year at the end of the data collection cycle (for example, ‘2023’) when referring to that period. Further detail of collection periods is covered in the road type sections of this release.

Revision of previous data:

The data presented for 2023 in this release is provisional, and data from 2022 is revised. Data for 2023 will be reviewed by local authorities during the production of the 2024 statistics. Each year local authorities provide information for the current year and have the opportunity to revise the previous year’s data. For example, in 2023, one local authority revised the percentage of red ‘A’ roads for 2022, and 11 local authorities provided the percentage of red ‘A’ roads for 2022 for the first time in 2023. Therefore, each year the latest data is provisional, and the previous year’s data will include revisions and new submissions.

Main points

The condition of local roads continues to be broadly stable since 2016, particularly for classified roads.

In 2023, the proportion of roads that should have been considered for maintenance is largely unchanged from the previous year. Local authorities reported the proportion of:

• local ‘A’ roads that should have been considered for maintenance to be 4%, unchanged for the past 4 years
• ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads that should have been considered for maintenance to be 6%, unchanged for the past 8 years
• unclassified roads that should have been considered for maintenance to be 17%, a small increase from 16% in the previous year. Data for unclassified roads is less robust than for classified roads and continues to see greater yearly fluctuations than other roads

Chart 1: Line chart showing the trend in the percentage of local roads that should have been considered for maintenance (red), in England, by road type, for the years 2008 to 2023 (RDC0120)

User perception

This statistical measure of road condition may not align precisely with user perception of roads. Whilst road condition surveys are used as a tool to identify road sections that require maintenance treatments, the maintenance of roads is not solely determined by the result of these surveys. Other factors, based on local needs and priorities, will determine where maintenance is carried out to ensure the safety and longevity of the entire road network through a risk-based highway asset management approach.

Additionally, user perception may be heavily influenced by the condition of the unclassified road network, which makes up the majority of the local road network in England. Due to the size and relatively lower priority (lighter traffic flow and fewer key arterial routes compared to classified roads) of the unclassified road network, a smaller proportion of the network is surveyed over time (recommended coverage at 50% of the network over 4 years) compared to the classified network (over 80% of the network over 2 years), using less comparable data sources. This lower coverage and varied nature of the unclassified network results in trends in road condition that fluctuate more over time, and the data may not be fully representative of the entire unclassified road network.

Categorisation of road condition

Definition of road surface condition categories:

Red:: Should have been considered for maintenance. Treatment may or may not be required, but the road should be investigated fully.

Amber: Maintenance may be required soon.

Green: No further investigation or work is needed.

Figure 1: Examples of roads categorised as red, amber, and green

Important information about comparing the road condition data across different types of roads

Road surface condition categories are based on multiple parameters collected by Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads (SCANNER) machines and scored against different definitions for different types of roads. This is so that maintenance is prioritised for roads that have heavier traffic flows and act as key arterial routes. This means that the proportion of ‘red’ roads is not comparable across road classes (for example, ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ’U’). For example, an ‘A’ road categorised as red could be in identical condition to a ‘B’ road categorised as amber.

‘Amber’ and ‘green’ percentages for ‘A’ roads and ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads are provided to us on a voluntary basis. Therefore, we receive fewer submissions of amber and green percentages than of just red.

For example, in 2023, we received 119 submissions for the percentage of red ‘A’ road alone, compared to 106 submissions for the percentages of red, amber, and green ‘A’ roads together. As a result, the percentage of red roads, when reported together with amber and green roads (presented in table RDC0122), may be slightly different from the percentage of red roads alone (presented in table RDC0120), due to the different group of local authorities submitting these data points.

Road condition surveys used by local authorities

Data on the condition of local roads are collected by Local Authorities. This is mandated by Single Data List requirements, but in recent years fewer local authorities have complied with this mandate.

In 2023, 79% of Local Authorities who submitted data used SCANNER surveys on their ‘A’ road network and 77% used it on the ‘B’ and ‘C’ networks. This is a fall from 99% on ‘A’ roads and 98% of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads in 2018. The new Data Standard for Road Condition Monitoring, due to be introduced in July 2024, aims to provide an improved reflection of the condition of roads in England, by providing more comparable data from multiple sources of road condition information. More details on the Data Standard project for road condition can be found in the position paper.

Although current requirements specify that SCANNER surveys should be carried out by local authorities on their classified road network (Motorways, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads), other surveys have been used by local authorities. The data in this publication is based on responses from both those Local Authorities using SCANNER and those who have supplied data from alternative technologies. The new ‘Data Standard for Road Condition Monitoring’ will remove the current mandate for using SCANNER surveys. This will allow local authorities to choose from multiple technologies while ensuring data comparability and integrity across the different survey approaches.

Condition of local ‘A’ roads

Local ‘A’ roads and locally managed motorways account for around 10% of the Local Authority managed road network in England and carry approximately 31% of all traffic.

Timing and coverage: Local authorities are required to carry out SCANNER surveys on 90% of their ‘A’ roads and motorways over a 2-year period, therefore the data presented for 2023 was collected between April 2021 and March 2023.

Chart 2: A bar chart showing the percentage of local ‘A’ roads categorised as red, amber, or green, for the years 2020 to 2023 (RDC0122, RDC0123)

In 2023, 4% of local ‘A’ roads were categorised as red, 25% were categorised as amber, and 70% were categorised as green. Note that, due to rounding, these percentages do not sum to 100. These figures are based on 106 local authorities.

The percentage of local ‘A’ roads categorised as red has remained at 4% since 2020. Despite a slight increase from 3% in 2019, the proportion of these roads categorised as red is still below levels seen in 2008 to 2013.

The distribution of red, amber, and green roads has been broadly stable. There has been a small change in the proportion of green and amber roads, with green roads decreasing by 2 percentage points and amber roads increasing by 1 percentage point compared to 2022.

Chart 3: A line chart showing the percentage of local ‘A’ roads categorised as red, in 2008 to 2023 (RDC0120, RDC0121)

The proportion of roads categorised as red varies across the country, as demonstrated in Chart 4.

Chart 4: A map showing the difference in the percentage of red local ‘A’ roads across local authorities in England, for the years 2013 to 2023 (RDC0120, RDC0121, Interactive Map)

Of the 119 local authorities that provided data for 2023, 36 local authorities reported 2% or fewer red ‘A’ roads, while 8 local authorities reported greater than 10%.

When looking at the proportion of ‘A’ roads categorised as red over time:

• 73% of local authorities reported an improvement or no change in the proportion of ‘A’ roads categorised as red when comparing 2013 and 2023, where data was available for both time periods

• In the shorter term, 60% of local authorities reported an improvement or no change in the proportion of red ‘A’ roads when comparing 2020 and 2023

Condition of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads

‘B’ and ‘C’ roads together account for around 29% of all Local Authority managed roads in England.

Timing and coverage:

Local authorities are expected to carry out SCANNER surveys on 85% of their ‘B’ road and 80% of their ‘C’ road networks over a 2-year period. The data presented for 2023 will have been collected between April 2021 and March 2023.

Chart 5: A bar chart showing the percentage of local ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads that are categorised as red, amber or green, in 2020 to 2023 (RDC0122, RDC0123)

In 2023:

• for ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads, 7% were categorised as red
• 29% of roads were amber
• the majority of roads were green, at 64%

The distribution of red, amber, and green roads has been broadly stable. Since 2022, there was a decrease in the proportion of roads categorised as green, from 66% to 64% for 2023. The percentage of amber roads increased from 28% to 29%. Finally, the percentage of red roads increased from 6% to 7%.

Impact of data coverage and rounding:

Note that the difference in the percentage of roads being categorised as red here compared with the 6% reported above, is because it is mandatory to declare the percentage of red roads, but amber and green are voluntary. This means fewer Local Authorities are included in statistics for red, amber, and green roads compared to statistics for just red roads, which affects the percentage of roads categorised as red. In addition, as local data is often provided data to zero decimal places, the national figures are reported to the same level of accuracy, which can hide small changes in the percentages. To two decimal places, the headline figure of the percentage of red roads is 6.40%, whereas it is 6.60% only taking into account those that also submitted figures for amber and green. Despite this only being a small difference of 0.2 percentage points, rounding results in these figures being 6% and 7%.

Chart 6:  A line chart showing the percentage of local ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads that were categorised as red, in 2008 to 2023 (RDC0120, RDC0121)

After reaching a peak in 2011 and 2012, where 10% of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads were categorised as red, the proportion fell to 6% in 2016 and has remained stable at 6% since.

Chart 7: A map showing the difference in the percentage of red local ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads across local authorities in England, for the years 2013 to 2023 (RDC0120, RDC0121, Interactive Map)

In 2023, of the 111 valid submissions from local authorities, 20 local authorities reported 2% or fewer red ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads, while 11 local authorities reported greater than 10%.

When looking at the proportion of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads categorised as red over time:

• where data was available for both time periods, 81% of local authorities reported an improvement or no change in the proportion of ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads categorised as red when comparing the years 2013 and 2023

• more recently, comparing 2020 to 2023, 56% of local authorities reported an improvement or no change in the proportion of red ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads

Condition of unclassified roads

‘U’ roads account for around 62% of the Local Authority managed road network.

Timing and coverage:

Local authorities are only expected to survey 50% of their unclassified roads over a 4-year period, with data presented for 2023 being collected between April 2019 and March 2023.

Unclassified roads continue to see the greatest change from year to year, likely caused by less comparable data sources, lower data coverage due to the size of the unclassified road network, the variation in road surfaces, less frequent surveys and the greater mix of survey types used.

Chart 8: A line chart showing the percentage of red unclassified roads, in 2008 to 2023 (RDC0130, RDC0131)

The proportion of the unclassified road network categorised as red has fluctuated between 15% and 18% since current reporting started in 2007, and currently stands at 17%.

Strategic Road Network

The Strategic Road Network (SRN) is made up of the motorways and major trunk roads in England that are managed by National Highways. These roads account for around 2% of the road network in England but carry approximately 34% of all traffic.

Timing and coverage:

TRAffic-speed Condition Surveys (TRACS) are carried out on the full SRN each year. The data presented for 2023 data was collected between April 2019 and March 2023 with most of the data from the last 2 years.

For roads that make up the SRN in 2023:

• 5% of motorways should have been considered for maintenance
• 7% of ‘A’ roads should have been considered for maintenance

The percentage for ‘A’ roads remains unchanged since 2019, whereas the percentage for motorways has increased from 4% to 5% from the previous year.

Chart 9: A line chart showing the percentage of National Highways managed roads that should have been considered for maintenance, by road type, in 2008 to 2023 (RDC0201)

National Highways’ management of the SRN is also monitored by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), who produced a report covering April 2022 to March 2023 on this, which includes a road condition metric and target. For this period, National Highways set a target of 96.2% of the SRN pavement requiring no further investigation; their target for each year has been met for the past 6 years.

The methods used by National Highways to calculate this measure of condition vary from those presented in this report for surface condition and skidding resistance, therefore are not directly comparable. See the Technical Note for further information on these differences.

Skidding resistance

Skidding resistance surveys are undertaken by Local Authorities and National Highways. They provide a measure of the road surface contribution to the frictional forces developed between a vehicle’s tyres and the road when accelerating, braking, or cornering. This publication presents the figures for National Highways on the SRN only. Based on feedback from Local Authorities, the department is currently reviewing how skidding resistance data is reported by local authorities to ensure the quality and accuracy of this information. This means that Table RDC0140 has been excluded from this publication in 2023.

In 2023, the following conclusions were drawn relating to skidding resistance:

• of the motorways that make up part of the SRN, 5% required further investigation, an increase of 1 percentage point compared to the previous year
• for strategic ‘A’ roads, this increased by 4 percentage points since the previous year to 15%

Chart 10: A line chart showing the percentage of National Highways managed roads requiring further investigation for skidding resistance, by road type, for the years 2008 to 2023 (RDC0210)

Maintenance treatments on local roads

Different types of treatment are applied to sections of road to preserve, repair, or improve the condition of the road. These are influenced by factors such as weather, funding, and nature of the defect requiring treatment. The roads selected for treatment by a Local Authority is likely to include a broader group of roads than just those categorised as red, according to local priorities.

The categorisation of maintenance treatments has been changed in 2023 to include more up-to-date definitions and allow greater consistency across local authority reporting of this information. From 2023 onwards, work done will be reported as follows:

• Strengthening, consisting of reconstruction excluding in-situ recycling, and in-situ recycling,

• Resurfacing, consisting of resurfacing, overlay, and thin surfacing,

• Preservation, consisting of surface dressing, micro surfacing, and preservation and rejuvenation.

This change in reporting should better reflect current maintenance treatments. The data presented for the categories of maintenance treatments on local roads for previous years up to 2022 will still reflect the previous maintenance treatment categories and is therefore not directly comparable. The totalled figures for 2022 are still compared with 2023 below, with the caveat that the maintenance treatments that make up this total were different for those years.

In 2023:

• the local ‘A’ road network (excluding locally managed motorways) 5.2% received maintenance treatment, for the minor road network (‘B’, ‘C’ and unclassified roads) this was 2.4%. These figures are lower than those reported in 2022, which were 5.8% for local ‘A’ roads and 2.8% for minor roads.

Chart 11: A stacked bar chart showing separately the percentage of local ’A’ roads and minor roads receiving maintenance treatments in 2023, split by treatment type (RDC0320)

Data source

For local roads, Local Authorities are required to report the proportion of road surface that should be considered for maintenance (such as, categorised as red) under the Single Data List. They are also asked to provide information on the proportion of road surface categorised as amber or green, as well as information about skidding resistance and highway maintenance treatments.

While local authorities are currently required to undertake SCANNER surveys on their classified roads, surveys on unclassified roads are not limited to SCANNER and other methods can be used. The condition of the Strategic Road Network is measured using TRACS.

Some local authorities use alternative road condition surveys to SCANNER and convert the data to an equivalent score. DfT is working with industry experts to evaluate and define an open standard to accommodate these alternative technologies.

Comparisons of road condition across different road types should be made with caution due to the differing methods used.

Further information about road condition data and surveys, see the Road Condition Statistics guide, notes and definitions and technical note.

Strengths and weaknesses

Figures in this publication come from a wide range of sources. Consequently, the accuracy of figures will vary between tables. Users are recommended to refer to separately published road conditions statistics guidance for more detail on how information for each table was collected.

SCANNER data are collected using automated road condition survey machines. Although each machine is accredited for accuracy and readings fall within the accepted boundaries of the SCANNER specification for road condition, there is still variability between the results that each machine delivers. It can lead to small changes in the figures over time that are for reasons beyond the condition of the road, and above the expected range of variability that already exists within the data. Caution should therefore be taken when comparing the figures over time, particularly for the Local Authorities and regions flagged in the publication tables.

SCANNER has been the recommended survey method since 2008 for local ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads. Due to the increase in the use of other technologies besides SCANNER on the classified road network, it is important to note that the type of survey carried out can affect the percentage of roads categorised as red. To ensure comparability of road condition information, DfT is looking to implement a data standard for local road condition monitoring. More information on this can be found in the position paper that reviews this data and technology.

More information

Other measures of condition also exist. The Asphalt Industry Alliance carry out the Alarm Survey and report on a measure of structural condition alongside other measures. The RAC also produce a pothole index using their members’ breakdown data.

The next update, Road conditions in England, year ending March 2024, and accompanying tables are due to be published in 2024. In the meantime, continued engagement with stakeholders will be undertaken to improve the usability and relevance of the statistics.

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Contact details​

Road condition statistics

Email roadmaintenance.stats@dft.gov.uk

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