Organisation: Department for Transport
Date of Publication: October 2026
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre: 28 October 2026
The Department for Transport’s Local Highway Maintenance Transparency Reports 2026 show that local authorities in England reported spending £4.4 billion on highway maintenance in 2025/26, up from £4.1 billion the previous year. Spending is projected to reach £4.9 billion in 2026/27.
Almost 7,000 miles of carriageway are expected to receive maintenance in 2026/27, including nearly 2,000 miles of structural maintenance and almost 5,000 miles of preventative treatments. The proportion of authorities planning to undertake preventative maintenance is projected to increase from 76% in 2025/26 to 94% in 2026/27.
The report also found that 77% of potholes repaired through reactive maintenance in 2025/26 were filled using permanent methods, with the remaining 23% repaired temporarily. These figures exclude pothole repairs carried out through planned maintenance programmes such as resurfacing.
The reports are intended to improve transparency around local road maintenance and help the Department for Transport assess how effectively authorities manage their highway networks. The figures are provisional and self-reported, with verified data and local road maintenance ratings expected in early 2027.
Click the link below to access the full report:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-highways-maintenance-transparency-reports/local-highway-maintenance-transparency-reports-2026