North Yorkshire: AMBER Across the Board on England's Biggest County Network
North Yorkshire Council runs 9,275km of roads — England's sixth-largest surfaced network — and scores AMBER on every single DfT measure: condition, spend and best practice. Underneath the middling scorecard, RED-condition U-roads jumped from 11% to 18% in two years, pothole work orders are up 55% since 2021/22, and the council admits its reduced output "is beginning to have an impact on overall network condition."
The Scale Problem: Harrogate to New Delhi
The council's own comparison — its surfaced network is roughly the distance you'd drive from Harrogate to New Delhi
| Road type | Length | Share of network |
|---|---|---|
| A roads | 934km | 10% |
| B and C roads | 3,411km | 37% |
| Unclassified (U) roads | 4,930km | 53% |
| Total roads | 9,275km | 100% |
Why Scale Cuts Both Ways
A vast, predominantly rural network is the council's standard explanation for stretched resources — and it's true. But scale is a double-edged sword under Section 58:
- • The duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 applies to every metre of those 9,275km equally
- • A "reasonable system" must cover remote rural lanes as well as town centres — the law does not discount the Dales
- • The bigger the network, the longer the practical gap between inspections on minor roads — and the more defects form unseen in between
What The Condition Data Shows
Five years of survey data from North Yorkshire's own transparency report — and every road class turned downward in 2024/25
A roads (934km): green share falling
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 3% | 20.6% | 76.4% |
| 2021/22 | 2.9% | 20.4% | 76.7% |
| 2022/23 | 2.6% | 19.2% | 78.2% |
| 2023/24 | 2.6% | 21% | 76.4% |
| 2024/25 | 2.8% | 24.1% | 73.1% |
A-roads in good condition fell from 78.2% to 73.1% in just two years, while the AMBER share — roads where "maintenance may be required soon" — climbed from 19.2% to 24.1%. That's the pipeline of tomorrow's potholes filling up.
B and C roads (3,411km): RED up a third since 2022/23
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 3.3% | 27.4% | 69.3% |
| 2021/22 | 2.9% | 26.6% | 70.5% |
| 2022/23 | 2.7% | 25.4% | 71.9% |
| 2023/24 | 3% | 26.2% | 70.8% |
| 2024/25 | 3.6% | 28% | 68.4% |
RED-condition B and C roads rose a third in two years (2.7% → 3.6%), and the green share fell from 71.9% to 68.4% — its lowest in the five-year table. On a 3,411km B/C network, every percentage point of RED is roughly 34km of road that "should be considered for maintenance".
The Two-Summer Blend
Since 2021/22, SCANNER data has been collected over a two-year cycle: 50% of the network in one direction in year one, the opposite direction in year two. The council's own example: "data for 2022/23 is made up of data collected in summer 2021 and summer 2022."
On a deteriorating network, that means the published figures always lag reality — the 2024/25 numbers partly describe roads as they were in summer 2023. If the trend is downward, the road you actually hit is likely worse than the table says.
4,930km of U-Roads — RED Up From 11% to 18% in Two Years
More than half the network is unclassified — surveyed by camera, not laser, with a 70% coverage target
| Survey year | U-roads in RED condition | Approx. length |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 20% | ~986km |
| 2021 | 17% | ~838km |
| 2022 | 11% | ~542km |
| 2023 | 14% | ~690km |
| 2024 | 18% | ~887km |
A Sharp Reversal
Between 2016 and 2021, extra investment from the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the council itself improved rural C and U roads — and the data shows it: RED U-roads fell from 20% to 11% by 2022.
Then the funding ended and inflation hit. RED U-roads have climbed back to 18% — roughly 887km of unclassified road the council's own surveys flag as needing consideration for maintenance. That's a 64% rise in the RED share in just two years.
A Less Detailed Survey, Partial Coverage
U-roads are not surveyed with SCANNER lasers. The council uses the Vaisala Road AI camera system, "based on a Coarse Visual Inspection survey, which is less detailed than the SCANNER survey" — the report's own words.
And coverage is not total: the council states it aims "to survey a minimum of 70% of the U road network each year." Up to 1,479km of U-road can legitimately go unsurveyed in any given year under that target.
Why This Matters For Section 58
To rely on the Section 58 defence, the council must show a reasonable system for knowing and managing the condition of the road that damaged your vehicle. On North Yorkshire's U-road network, ask:
- • Was your road in the 70% surveyed that year — or the portion that wasn't?
- • If 18% of U-roads were RED in 2024, what was done about yours specifically?
- • A coarse camera survey is "less detailed" by the council's own admission — what did it miss?
- • With RED U-roads rising 64% in two years, was inspection frequency increased to match?
A council whose own data shows accelerating decline on half its network has a documented reason to inspect more, not less.
The Council's Own Admission
Buried in the "additional information on condition" section — in the council's own words
"Since 2021, inflationary pressures have resulted in significant increases in costs for highway maintenance activities. While the rate of inflation has slowed recently, costs are still significantly higher than in 2020 to 2021. As such, the amount of work we have been able to complete in recent years is lower than the period before 2020 to 2021. This is beginning to have an impact on overall network condition."
— North Yorkshire Council, Information About Our Highway Maintenance (DfT transparency report, 2025)
What This Admission Means
This is North Yorkshire formally acknowledging two things at once: it is completing less maintenance work than it did before 2020/21, and network condition is suffering as a result. The condition tables back it up — every road class declined in 2024/25.
Under Section 58, documented knowledge of declining condition raises the bar for what a "reasonable" inspection and repair regime looks like. A council that knows its network is deteriorating cannot reasonably carry on as if it weren't.
And Inflation Is Not a Defence
Section 58 turns on whether the council took such care as was reasonably required to keep the highway safe for traffic. Budget pressures, inflation and funding shortfalls are not among the statutory considerations.
Courts have consistently held that lack of resources does not lower the standard of the Section 41 duty. The admission explains the decline — it does not excuse it.
Pothole Work Orders Up 55% Since 2021/22
45,323 work orders in five years — and each one covers multiple potholes
| Year | Pothole work orders | Change vs 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 7,266 | — |
| 2021/22 | 7,085 | baseline |
| 2022/23 | 8,079 | +14% |
| 2023/24 | 11,878 | +68% |
| 2024/25 | 11,015 | +55% |
| Five-year total | 45,323 | — |
The Multiplier Caveat
The council's own footnote: "The figures quoted are for the number of work orders raised for pothole repairs. Each work order contains multiple pothole or actionable surface defect repairs."
So 45,323 is not the pothole count — it's the lower bound on a number that's some multiple higher. The network is producing defects considerably faster than the headline figures suggest.
The Repeat-Repair Admission
In its 2025/26 plans, the council says it is "reviewing how we repair these defects with an increased focus on longer term repairs to reduce the number of return or repeat repairs."
You don't review your repair methods to reduce repeat repairs unless repeat repairs are a problem. If the pothole that damaged your vehicle had been patched before, that history is worth establishing — a failed previous repair is strong evidence.
The Money: £4.8 Million a Year Just Filling Potholes
| Year | DfT capital allocation | Capital spend | Preventative share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | £49.0m | £45.4m | 63% |
| 2021/22 | £46.6m | £46.7m | 62% |
| 2022/23 | £39.9m | £42.6m | 57% |
| 2023/24 | £51.4m | £49.8m | 61% |
| 2024/25 | £44.8m | £50.5m | 61% |
| 2025/26 (projected) | £60.8m | £62.0m | 65% |
Why Spend Is Only AMBER
Unlike GREEN-rated councils that consistently spend well above their allocation, North Yorkshire's record is mixed: it underspent its DfT allocation in 2020/21 (£45.4m against £49.0m) and again in 2023/24 (£49.8m against £51.4m) — the new council's first full year. The preventative share dipped to 57% in 2022/23 before recovering to a projected 65%.
£4.8m a Year on Reactive Pothole Repairs
The council estimates it spends £4.8 million per year on reactive revenue repairs to potholes — 15% of its reactive budget and 6% of its entire highway budget. That's the running cost of a network that generates over 11,000 pothole work orders a year.
The 2023 Reorganisation: What It Does — and Doesn't — Mean
North Yorkshire Council formed on 1 April 2023, replacing the county council and seven districts
The Honest Picture
We'll be straight: this is not Cumberland. Highways were already a county-level function, so when North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils merged into the new unitary, the highway authority's inspection records and systems had institutional continuity. The council cannot be accused of starting from zero.
All condition and spending data before April 2023 in the tables above belongs to the predecessor county council — including the 2016-2021 rural roads investment that produced the now-reversed improvement.
What's Still Worth Probing
- • If the council relies on pre-2023 inspection records for a Section 58 defence, it must show those records and policies transferred intact through the reorganisation — ask in disclosure
- • The new authority's first full year (2023/24) saw an underspend against the DfT allocation and the biggest jump in pothole work orders in the five-year table (+47% year on year)
- • The timing is awkward for the council: it took over precisely as its own report says conditions began to slip
Liability Didn't Change Hands — It Continued
Whatever the structure, the Section 41 duty to maintain ran continuously through 1 April 2023. For claims either side of that date, North Yorkshire Council answers for the network — and for the completeness of the records it inherited.
"That predates us" is not a defence. If the records exist, they must be produced; if they don't, the Section 58 defence has a hole in it.
Claiming Against an All-AMBER Council
Honest assessment: North Yorkshire is neither a basket case nor a model — here's how that shapes your claim
What Works In The Council's Favour
- ✓ Annual SCANNER surveys on all A, B and C roads — a credible condition-monitoring regime for classified routes
- ✓ A documented risk-based, lifecycle asset management strategy
- ✓ In-house delivery through NY Highways since 2021, with AI survey data processed in under four hours
- ✓ Spending above allocation in 2024/25 and projected for 2025/26, with the preventative share rising to 65%
- ✓ A-road RED share is genuinely low (2.8%) by national standards
Expect a competent, documented Section 58 defence on A-roads. Generic claims will struggle there.
What Works In Yours
- ✗ AMBER on all four DfT measures — no GREEN anywhere on the scorecard
- ✗ RED U-roads up from 11% to 18% in two years — ~887km of flagged road
- ✗ U-roads (53% of the network) surveyed by a "less detailed" camera method, with only a 70% annual coverage target
- ✗ Pothole work orders up 55% since 2021/22 — each covering multiple potholes
- ✗ The council's own admission that reduced output "is beginning to have an impact on overall network condition"
- ✗ Condition data lags up to two years behind reality on classified roads
The Winning Strategy: Road Class and Timing
Against an all-AMBER council, the strength of your claim depends heavily on where and when you hit the defect:
- • On a U-road, lead with the survey-method gap: coarse camera surveys, 70% coverage, and a RED share that rose 64% in two years
- • On a B or C road, the 2024/25 decline and two-summer data lag are your structural arguments
- • Anywhere, prior reports of the same defect (FixMyStreet, council reports) convert a difficult claim into a strong one — actual notice defeats Section 58
- • Photographs showing weathered edges or previous patching tie your defect to the council's admitted repeat-repair problem
Mac builds exactly this case: he searches for prior reports, assesses your photo evidence, and cites North Yorkshire's own transparency data where it helps you.
Hit a Pothole in North Yorkshire?
England's biggest county network demands a properly built claim. £35 for a professional claim pack.
DIY Claim
- • Submit photos and invoices
- • Use generic template letter
- • No U-road survey-gap argument
- • No prior-report search
- • No use of the council's own admissions
Professional Claim Pack
- ✅ RED U-road surge (11% → 18%) documented
- ✅ 70% survey coverage gap argued
- ✅ 45,323 work orders in five years cited
- ✅ Prior reports searched and attached
- ✅ Section 58 rebuttal tailored to North Yorkshire
No percentage fees. You keep 100% of any compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
North Yorkshire is AMBER on every DfT measure — what does that mean for my claim?
It means the Department for Transport found nothing to fault badly — but nothing to praise either. Condition, spend and best practice are all AMBER: middling performance on England's sixth-largest surfaced network. For your claim, the headline rating matters less than the trends underneath it: RED-condition U-roads rose from 11% to 18% between 2022 and 2024, B and C roads in RED are up a third since 2022/23, and the council itself says reduced output "is beginning to have an impact on overall network condition."
What if my pothole was on one of the 4,930km of unclassified roads?
U-roads make up 53% of North Yorkshire's network — 4,930km of rural lanes, village streets and estate roads. They are not surveyed with SCANNER laser equipment like A, B and C roads; the council uses an AI camera-based Coarse Visual Inspection, which its own report describes as "less detailed than the SCANNER survey". The council only aims to survey a minimum of 70% of the U-road network each year, and 18% of U-roads were in RED condition in 2024 — roughly 887km of road the council's own data says should be considered for maintenance.
Does the 2023 local government reorganisation help my claim?
Partially — and we'll be straight about it. North Yorkshire Council was formed on 1 April 2023, replacing North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils. Unlike some new unitaries, highways were already a county-level function, so inspection records did not start from zero. But all pre-April-2023 condition data, inspection records and policies belong to the predecessor county council, and the new authority took over a 9,275km network in the same period its own report says conditions began slipping. If the council relies on pre-2023 records for a Section 58 defence, it must show those predecessor systems transferred intact — a fair question to ask in disclosure.
The council filled 11,015 potholes in 2024/25 — doesn't that prove the system works?
Read the small print. The council's own footnote says those figures are "the number of work orders raised for pothole repairs" and that "each work order contains multiple pothole or actionable surface defect repairs." The true number of individual potholes repaired is a multiple of 11,015. Work orders are also up 55% since 2021/22 — a network generating defects that fast is one where potholes routinely form between inspections, which is exactly where prior reports and photographic evidence win claims.
The council blames inflation for doing less work — is that a defence?
No. Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 asks whether the council took such care as was reasonably required to keep the specific road safe — budget pressure is not a statutory defence. If anything, the council's admission that "the amount of work we have been able to complete in recent years is lower than the period before 2020 to 2021" and that this "is beginning to have an impact on overall network condition" is documented knowledge that the network is deteriorating. Knowing that, and not adjusting inspection or repair regimes accordingly, weakens a reasonableness defence rather than supporting one.
How current is North Yorkshire's road condition data?
Less current than the tables suggest. Since 2021/22, SCANNER data for A, B and C roads has been collected over a two-year cycle — 50% of the network in one direction in year one, the opposite direction in year two — so each published year blends two summers of surveying. The council's own example: the 2022/23 figure combines data from summer 2021 and summer 2022. On a deteriorating network, that lag means the published condition picture can flatter the road you actually drove on.
Data sources: Department for Transport — Local Road Maintenance Ratings 2025 to 2026 | North Yorkshire Council — Information About Our Highway Maintenance (2025). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.