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<p>Local highway authorities including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils
have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to maintain the
highways network in their area. Dealing with any compensation claims due to possible
defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely the responsibility
of the relevant highway authority, and the Department has made no formal assessment
of this matter.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is providing over £1 billion of highway
maintenance capital grant funding to local authorities in the current financial year.
This funding goes to eligible local highway authorities across England, outside of
London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of City Region Sustainable
Transport Settlements. As a result of the funding increases announced at Budget 2023
and in the Prime Minister’s Network North programme, local highway authorities in
England are generally receiving around 30% more highway maintenance funding from the
Department for Transport in the current financial year than in the previous financial
year. The Network North programme includes an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion
for local highway maintenance over the period up to 2033/34 to help fix the blight
of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.</p><p> </p><p>Funding
allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk. Gloucestershire
County Council received a total of £29.1 million of highway maintenance capital grant
funding, and Oxfordshire County Council a total of £27.2 million, in the 2023/24 financial
year. In each case this was an increase of around 30% compared to the 2022/23 financial
year. The Department for Transport has asked local highway authorities to publish
on their websites by 15 March 2024 plans setting out how the additional Network North
highway maintenance funding will be used, and thereafter quarterly reports on how
the funding has been spent.</p><p> </p><p>The Department takes the condition of local
roads very seriously. Well-planned, proactive, and good quality maintenance works
are vital in preventing prevent potholes and other defects from forming. Councils
that do this effectively get better value for every pound spent.</p><p> </p><p>To
ensure transparency in the condition of our local road networks, road condition statistics
are published annually by the Department and are available on gov.uk. The Government
is working with the British Standards Institution and the Transport Research Laboratory
to develop a new data standard for assessing road condition to help local authorities
identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.</p><p> </p>
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