Claims potholes reduced to 'record low' questioned

A council's claims that the number of potholes in its area has fallen to a "record low" have been called into question.

Derbyshire County Council and some of its Reform UK administration recently released statistics, saying that in four months, the number of outstanding potholes has been cut from 12,000 in April to under 700, "the lowest figure recorded for more than 12 months".

But the 12,000 figure includes both temporary and permanent repairs, and some failed repairs that required teams to return.

Conservative opposition leader Alex Dale said it was "concerning when some of these stats don't even seem to add up", though Reform deny any suggestion the figures are a misrepresentation.

The authority - which has repeatedly faced criticism of its road maintenance service in the past - said that changes to its methodology in fixing potholes and other recent improvements "have resulted in our rapid response teams being able to fix on average 2,000 potholes every week".

Based on those projections, it could have fixed about 32,000 potholes. However, in the same press release - which was published on Thursday - the council said it had repaired 11,300 in four months from April to August.

The 12,000 figure is not unusually high for a winter backlog and is in keeping with previous winter trends.

However, the council was starting at a lower base than the previous April, when the Local Democracy Reporting Service said the figure was higher at about 17,000 potholes.

The figures for repairs would appear to be a significant reduction from repairs made in previous years.

In the space of a year between 2021-2022, the council said it had made close to 100,000 repairs.

Meanwhile, the council's latest highways maintenance transparency report shows that in 2023, an estimated 80,254 potholes were filled, with 85,726 the year before.

Leaders at the authority have said that reporting methods have since changed, with duplicate reports of the same pothole, which previously inflated the figures, no longer included in the latest statistics.

The council added a new "rapid response" approach was improving its ability to make repairs.

It includes the use of a new JCB Pothole Pro machine, which cuts, cleans and crop potholes before they are filled, although the machine has received mixed reviews from neighbouring local authorities, one of which dismissed it as "not economical".

The council has for several years struggled to maintain its roads and been labelled the "pothole capital" of England.

At the beginning of the year, Derbyshire received a "red" rating based on the condition of its roads from a government road mapping tool.

The council has argued in the past that it uses different methodology for counting its potholes, which paint a worse picture of its roads compared to other local authorities.

This week, in light of the latest figures on potholes, the council told the BBC it is "too early to provide factually accurate information" on whether its score will have since improved as a result of the repairs.

It said this was because the roads condition survey was conducted in the spring, before the repairs were made.

The council's Reform UK cabinet member for highways, Charlotte Hill, said the recent progress on potholes represented a "milestone" and "real results".

"I want to congratulate our highways team on this achievement and thank them for their hard work. The combination of their efforts, innovative methods and additional repair capacity has helped us make significant progress," she said

"We know potholes are a concern for residents, and we're committed to making our roads safer, and more enjoyable, particularly ahead of winter so we're in a much stronger position to cope with the conditions cold weather can bring."

Documents obtained by the BBC through Freedom of Information laws show the council has paid out well over £1m in pothole compensation over the past four years, with a peak of £750,000 paid out between June 2023 and May 2024.

However, the figure has come down significantly in the past year, with about £48,000 paid out in compensation to drivers between June 2025 and May of this year.

The leader of the Derbyshire Conservatives, Alex Dale, said it was "concerning when some of these stats don't even seem to add up".

"Residents deserve clear, transparent figures they can have confidence in, not smoke and mirrors or carefully selected statistics designed to generate a good headline," he said.

"Pothole numbers rising over winter and then falling again through the spring and summer is nothing new - we see that seasonal pattern every year.

"It's now the middle of August. After a fairly mild winter and months of warm, dry and favourable weather for road repairs, residents should reasonably expect the post-winter backlog to have been brought under control well before now.

"That should be business as usual, not treated as some extraordinary achievement."

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