Source
Department for Transport — Local road maintenance ratings 2025 to 2026
amberOverall|amber Conditiongreen Spendamber Best Practice
Surrey: 273,383 Potholes in Five Years — and Rising
One of England's wealthiest counties spends roughly triple its DfT capital allocation and earns a GREEN spend scorecard. Yet Surrey's overall DfT rating is AMBER — for both condition and best practice — because two-thirds of its 4,844km network is surveyed only once every four years, 22% of those unclassified roads are in RED condition, and the council's own pothole count just hit a five-year record.
59,924
Potholes filled in 2024/25 alone
That's roughly 164 potholes every single day — the highest annual figure in Surrey's five years of published data, and the council says the trend is still rising.
Triple the Allocation, Still AMBER
Six years of spending data from Surrey's own transparency report — the chequebook is not the problem
| Year | DfT capital allocation | Actual capital spend | Preventative | Reactive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | £33.5m | £57.0m | 51% | 49% |
| 2021/22 | £25.7m | £52.0m | 50% | 50% |
| 2022/23 | £25.7m | £55.8m | 53% | 47% |
| 2023/24 | £32.0m | £111.5m | 66% | 34% |
| 2024/25 | £28.6m | £100.5m | 57% | 43% |
| 2025/26 (projected) | £37.3m | £86.2m | 61% | 39% |
£377m Spent Against £145m Allocated
Over the five completed years, Surrey spent around £377m of capital against roughly £145m of DfT allocations — about 2.6 times the government funding. In 2023/24 and 2024/25 the multiple was nearly 3.5 times.
That is what a GREEN spend scorecard looks like. It is also why the AMBER condition rating matters more: money on this scale has not stopped pothole numbers rising to a record high.
The 13% Figure
Surrey's report states that "on average over the past 5 years approximately 13% of the spend on reactive maintenance is used for filling potholes."
Read that alongside the reactive share of the budget — which ran at 43-50% in four of the last six years. A council spending heavily on reaction rather than prevention is a council whose network keeps generating defects faster than planned works remove them.
Why GREEN Spend Doesn't Defeat Your Claim
£100.5m
Capital spend 2024/25 — 3.5× the DfT allocation
AMBER
DfT Condition scorecard despite that spend
59,924
Potholes filled in the same year — a record
Section 58 isn't a spending test. It asks whether the specific defect that damaged your vehicle was reasonably inspected and repaired. Surrey's own data shows a network producing defects at a rate even £100m a year hasn't tamed.
What The Condition Data Shows
Five years of survey data from Surrey's own transparency report — classified roads steady, unclassified roads heading the wrong way
A-roads (598km — 12% of network): improving
4%
RED (2024)
down from 7% in 2020
24%
Amber
down from 28%
71%
Green
up from 66%
Credit where due: Surrey's main roads have genuinely improved. But A-roads are barely one-eighth of the network — and they are surveyed every two years, with half done each year.
B and C roads (1,014km — 21% of network): modest gains, then flat
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7% | 29% | 64% |
| 2021 | 7% | 29% | 65% |
| 2022 | 6% | 25% | 69% |
| 2023 | 5% | 26% | 69% |
| 2024 | 5% | 26% | 69% |
B and C roads improved to 2022, then plateaued. Just under a third of the B/C network still needs — or will soon need — maintenance. Like A-roads, these are surveyed on a two-year cycle, not annually.
Unclassified roads (3,253km — 67% of network): worst figure on record
| Year | U-roads in RED condition |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 16% |
| 2021 | 13% (Covid — ~¼ of network not surveyed) |
| 2022 | 15% (new video/AI survey method introduced) |
| 2023 | 21% |
| 2024 | 22% |
22% RED means roughly 715km of Surrey's residential streets, estate roads and rural lanes should currently be considered for maintenance — on the council's own figures, the worst result in five years of published data.
The 3,253km Four-Year Blind Spot
Two-thirds of Surrey's network is unclassified — and the council's own report says how rarely it's surveyed
"Unclassified roads are traditionally surveyed once every 4 years."
— Surrey County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report
Four Years Between Surveys
A-roads are surveyed every two years. B and C roads, every two years. But the unclassified network — 3,253km, two-thirds of every road Surrey maintains — has traditionally been condition-surveyed just once every four years.
Surrey says it expects to move U-roads to a two-year survey cycle "by the end of 2026". That is an improvement — and an implicit acknowledgement that the four-year cycle it ran for years was not frequent enough.
The Methodology Asterisk — Read It Carefully
Surrey switched U-road surveys to video and machine-learning technology in 2022 and says the new method scores about 5 percentage points more of the network RED, so the 2023-24 rise is "primarily due to the change in survey methodology rather than a significant deterioration in condition."
Take that at face value and the picture is still not improvement: RED rose from 16% (2020) to 22% (2024) — a 6-point rise against a 5-point methodology adjustment. And the council's 2021 figure is itself flagged as artificially low, because Covid lockdowns left a quarter of the network unsurveyed that year.
Why This Matters For Section 58
To rely on the Section 58 defence, a council must show it had a reasonable system for knowing and maintaining the condition of its roads. For Surrey's unclassified network, ask:
- • When was your road last condition-surveyed — and was it up to four years before your incident?
- • If 22% of U-roads are RED, what was the council's plan for yours?
- • How does the council track deterioration on a road it measures once every four years?
- • Can pre-2022 and post-2022 condition records even be compared after the survey technology changed?
A council cannot claim detailed knowledge of two-thirds of its network when its own report says that network was traditionally surveyed once every four years.
273,383 Potholes in Five Years
Surrey's own pothole counts — the highest annual figure came last, not first
| Year | Potholes filled | Per day (average) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 53,611 | ~147 |
| 2021/22 | 50,881 | ~139 |
| 2022/23 | 56,509 | ~155 |
| 2023/24 | 52,458 | ~144 |
| 2024/25 | 59,924 | ~164 |
| Five-year total | 273,383 | ~150 |
"The current trend in pothole numbers is showing an increase, however that is because we are being more proactive with our pothole repairs and have enabled our repair gangs to fix other potholes they identify in the vicinity of a pothole that has been reported by our inspectors or customers."
— Surrey County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report
~150 Potholes a Day, Every Day, For Five Years
Whatever the explanation for the rising trend, the underlying fact is that Surrey's network produced over a quarter of a million potholes worth filling in five years. A network generating defects at that rate is, by definition, one where potholes routinely form — and persist — between inspections.
That is exactly the scenario where prior reports and dated photographs decide claims: if the defect existed long enough to be found, the inspection system should have found it.
The Patching Caveat
Surrey's report also notes: "We are now repairing multiple potholes, or other defects in the road that are close together, as one patch."
Where multiple potholes are treated as one larger patch, the published counts may understate the number of individual defects on the road. The 273,383 figure is a floor, not a ceiling.
The 2025/26 Prioritisation Admission
Where the money is going next — in the council's own words
"We will focus on improving the most used roads, our A and B network, with a higher proportion of budget allocation compared to the lesser used roads on the C and D road network."
— Surrey County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report — Specific plans for 2025 to 2026
What This Means
Surrey is openly directing a higher share of its budget at A and B roads — the parts of the network that are already improving — while the "lesser used" roads receive proportionally less.
But the weakest condition data in the entire report belongs to the unclassified network: 22% RED and climbing on the published figures. The roads in the worst documented state are the ones getting the smaller budget share.
Questions Worth Asking
- • Was your pothole on a C or unclassified road receiving a reduced budget share?
- • If the council knows 22% of U-roads are RED, what is the maintenance plan for yours?
- • Does a deprioritised budget square with a "reasonable" system of maintenance on the worst-condition roads?
To be fair to Surrey: the same plan promises 92 miles of resurfacing in 2025/26 and concrete-road repairs in residential areas. The question is whether your road made the list.
Claiming Against a Well-Funded AMBER Council
Honest assessment: Surrey spends real money and resurfaces real roads — here's how that shapes your approach
What Works In The Council's Favour
- ✓ GREEN spend scorecard — roughly 2.6× its DfT allocation over five years
- ✓ 486 miles of carriageway resurfaced in the last five years
- ✓ A-road condition genuinely improving — RED down from 7% to 4%
- ✓ Documented asset management approach aligned to the Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure code
- ✓ Larger, more durable patch repairs replacing single pothole fills
Expect a documented Section 58 defence on A and B roads. Generic, evidence-light claims will struggle.
What Works In Yours
- ✗ AMBER condition and AMBER best practice on the DfT scorecards — spend alone didn't earn a clean bill
- ✗ 67% of the network surveyed only once every four years
- ✗ 22% of U-roads RED in 2024 — the worst published figure in five years
- ✗ 273,383 potholes filled in five years, with the count rising to a record 59,924
- ✗ 2025/26 budget openly weighted away from the "lesser used" roads in the worst condition
- ✗ Survey methodology changed mid-series — pre- and post-2022 U-road records aren't directly comparable
The Winning Strategy Here Is Specificity
Against a council with a GREEN spend scorecard and a real resurfacing programme, your claim lives or dies on the specific defect:
- • Prior reports of the same pothole (FixMyStreet, council reports) — proof of actual notice
- • Photos showing the defect's size, depth and visible age (weathered edges, previous patching)
- • The road's class — on an unclassified road, the four-year survey cycle is your strongest structural argument
- • Whether your road sits in the "lesser used" category the 2025/26 budget deprioritises
Mac builds exactly this case: he searches for prior reports, assesses your photo evidence, and cites Surrey's own transparency data where it helps you.
Hit a Pothole in Surrey?
A well-funded council demands a well-built claim. £35 for a professional claim pack.
DIY Claim
- • Submit photos and invoices
- • Use generic template letter
- • No four-year survey-gap argument
- • No prior-report search
- • No budget-prioritisation analysis
Professional Claim Pack
- ✅ 273,383 potholes in five years cited
- ✅ Four-year U-road survey cycle argued
- ✅ 22% RED unclassified network documented
- ✅ Prior reports searched and attached
- ✅ Section 58 rebuttal tailored to Surrey
No percentage fees. You keep 100% of any compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Surrey spends roughly three times its DfT allocation — can I still claim?
Yes. The DfT Spend scorecard is GREEN — Surrey spent £100.5m of capital against a £28.6m allocation in 2024/25 — but the ratings that matter for your claim are Condition and Best Practice, and both are AMBER. Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 turns on whether the specific defect that damaged your vehicle was reasonably inspected and repaired, not on how much the council spends in aggregate. A council filling nearly 60,000 potholes a year is, by its own numbers, running a network that produces defects faster than its spending prevents them.
What if my pothole was on a residential or unclassified road in Surrey?
Unclassified roads make up 3,253km — 67% of Surrey's 4,844km network — and the council's own report states they are "traditionally surveyed once every 4 years." In 2024, 22% of U-roads were in RED condition, the worst figure in the five years published. A four-year gap between condition surveys on two-thirds of the network is a structural weakness in any Section 58 defence: the council must show it had reasonable knowledge of the road's condition, and a road last surveyed up to four years ago is hard to know much about.
Surrey says the rise in RED unclassified roads is mostly a survey methodology change — does that hurt my claim?
Not really. Surrey switched to a video and machine-learning survey in 2022 and says the new technology adds about 5 percentage points to the RED score, so "the increase in red condition shown in 2023 and 2024 is primarily due to the change in survey methodology rather than a significant deterioration in condition." But RED went from 16% in 2020 to 22% in 2024 — a 6-point rise — so even on the council's own adjustment the network has not improved. And whatever the cause of the measurement, 22% RED means roughly 715km of Surrey's residential roads should currently be considered for maintenance.
Pothole repairs hit a record 59,924 in 2024/25 — what does that mean for my claim?
It means Surrey's network produces potholes at an extraordinary rate — about 164 filled every day in 2024/25, and 273,383 over five years. The council frames the rising trend as proactivity: repair gangs now "fix other potholes they identify in the vicinity of a pothole that has been reported." For a claimant, the volume cuts the other way: a network generating this many defects is one where potholes routinely form, and persist, between inspections — exactly the scenario where prior reports and dated photographs decide claims.
Surrey is prioritising A and B roads in 2025/26 — does that matter for my claim?
It can. The council's own plan says it will "focus on improving the most used roads, our A and B network, with a higher proportion of budget allocation compared to the lesser used roads." A and B roads together are about a third of the network; the C and unclassified roads receiving a smaller share are where condition is weakest — 22% of U-roads are RED. If your pothole was on a deprioritised road, the question for the council is how a reduced budget share squares with a reasonable system of maintenance on roads it knows are in the worst condition.
Data sources: Department for Transport — Local Road Maintenance Ratings 2025 to 2026 | Surrey County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Reusable evidence record
Council rating evidence and provenance
Rating period: 2025-2026 · Reviewed 19 July 2026
Observed DfT fact
Overall AMBER; condition AMBER; spend GREEN; best practice AMBER.
Cautious interpretation
This is network-level context. The rating does not determine liability for a particular incident or establish what was known about a specific defect.
Correction status: No correction recorded.