A new Department for Transport map shows how well - or poorly - councils are doing
06:00, 13 Jan 2026
When it comes to the issue of fixing potholes, Cornwall Council has been told to do better by the Government.
The government has unveiled a new traffic light interactive map to show residents in England how their local authority is doing.
The map shows all 154 local highway authorities - councils that have responsibilities for roads - as red, amber or green based on how effectively they are fixing potholes and investing in preventative measures to maintain their road network in the long term.
It is part of a £1.5 billion funding scheme to help councils in the South West get on with fixing the roads. You can see the Government's interactive map here.
Cornwall Council spent more than £9 million on pothole repairs alone between 2021 and 2023 making it one of the worst areas for the amount of money spent on road maintenance.
In our region, apart from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire which are showing green, every other local highways authority including Cornwall has been rated as 'amber'.
The Department for transport (DfT) said the new ratings - the first of their kind - show how effectively councils are or not at spending the government's cash on filling in potholes.
The DfT said that those that scored green were able to demonstrate they are following best practice such as investing in more long-term preventative measures rather than just patching up potholes, while also maintaining good road conditions and investing significantly into improving local roads.
‘Amber’ ranked councils that "showed some of these qualities with room for improvement in individual areas".
Those rated ‘red’ are not yet meeting the expected standards in one or several areas measured by the ratings such as the current state of the roads, their plans for preventing potholes or investment into maintaining their local roads more widely.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: "For too long drivers in the South West 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 the South West with £1.5 billion 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."
Back in December, Dan Rogerson, Cornwall Council's transport portfolio holder, confirmed that the money the authority will get to maintain the county's roads - other than the A30 and A38, which come under National Highways' remit - was due to go up for the next three years.
Cornwall received about £32m this financial year, from the government, with an additional £12m dependent demonstrating a record of success. As of mid November, the council said it had fixed 28,828 potholes so far in 2025, compared with 37,381 in the whole of 2024.
At the time Cllr Rogerson told the BBC: "I think that is a reflection of the government's confidence in Cornwall Council to spend the money properly."
The council's contractor Cormac has been using trialling new materials, such as Elastomac, which Cllr Rogerson said would lead to "longer lasting" repairs.
Elastomac is made up of recycled aggregates, bitumen and used tyres. Cllr Rogerson said that this month Cornwall Council will be able to see if the Elastomac trials have been successful.
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