Source
Department for Transport — Local road maintenance ratings 2025 to 2026
amberOverall|amber Conditiongreen Spendamber Best Practice
7,500 Pothole Repairs Planned for 2025/26 on an Amber-Rated Network
City of Wolverhampton Council earns AMBER DfT scorecards for overall performance and condition, GREEN on spend — yet its own transparency report projects 7,500 pothole fills in 2025/26 after a 46% spike to 7,973 in 2023/24. Eighty-two per cent of the network is unclassified residential roads, and the council admits improved U-road statistics reflect a survey-method change, not completed maintenance. Section 58 still turns on your specific defect.
7,973
Pothole fills in 2023/24
A 46% rise from 5,461 in 2022/23 — the highest in the council's published five-year series — while preventative spend was 57%. The council now projects 7,500 fills for 2025/26 alongside 59% preventative maintenance.
775.5km of Roads — Mostly Residential
Network scale from City of Wolverhampton Council's June 2025 transparency report — where pothole claims actually happen
775.5km
Total carriageway
635.8km
Unclassified (U) roads
82% of the network
50.4km
B and C roads
89.3km
A roads
| Asset | Scale |
|---|---|
| Footways | 1,280km |
| Cycleways | 107km |
| Highway bridges | 57 |
| Highway structures | 83 (1 tunnel, 21 subways, 17 footbridges, 19 culverts, 25 retaining walls) |
| Street lighting columns | 27,000 |
"We carry out thousands of repairs to potholes every year with more than 7,500 expected to be repaired in 2025/26. However, to help reduce the number of pothole repairs needed in the long term our approach focuses on preventative maintenance."
— City of Wolverhampton Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report (June 2025)
What AMBER Condition Actually Shows
SCANNER surveys on classified roads from 2024 — Vaisala AI surveys on unclassified roads with a methodology caveat
Methodology caveat: The council transitioned classified roads to annual SCANNER surveys in 2024 and introduced Vaisala AI condition surveys for unclassified roads. U-road red-condition share fell from 33% in 2023 to 20% in 2024 — but the report states this reduction "reflects a change in how roads are surveyed rather than any completed maintenance." Previously, only 25% of the network was updated annually under Detailed Visual Inspection, meaning full data was available only every four years.
A roads (89.3km) — surveyed annually via SCANNER
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2.9% | 18.4% | 78.6% |
| 2022 | 2.5% | 18.7% | 78.8% |
| 2024 | 1.9% | 17.0% | 81.1% |
Principal roads show a positive trend — green-rated A-roads rose from 78.6% in 2020 to 81.1% in 2024. A-roads are 11.5% of the carriageway network.
B and C roads (50.4km) — surveyed annually via SCANNER
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2.34% | 22.75% | 74.91% |
| 2022 | 2.34% | 20.36% | 77.30% |
| 2024 | 1.76% | 15.14% | 83.10% |
B/C roads have improved on published SCANNER data — but this entire class is just 6.5% of the network.
Unclassified roads (635.8km) — where most claims start
| Year | Red |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 32% |
| 2022 | 35% |
| 2023 | 33% |
| 2024 | 20% |
The council publishes red-condition percentages only for U-roads — roughly 127km in red category at the 2024 AI survey. The report explicitly warns the year-on-year drop reflects the survey transition, not maintenance completed on the ground.
"Following this transition to AI-based assessments, the percentage of Unclassified roads in the Red category—those flagged as requiring urgent maintenance—has significantly decreased over the past year. However, it is important to note that this reduction reflects a change in how roads are surveyed rather than any completed maintenance."
— City of Wolverhampton Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report (June 2025)
Following the Money
GREEN spend — but total highways investment has more than doubled while pothole volumes remain high
| Year | DfT capital (£000s) | Capital spend (£000s) | Revenue spend (£000s) | Preventative | Reactive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (proj.) | 4,871 | 4,871 | 3,422 | 59% | 41% |
| 2024/25 | 4,182 | 3,786 | 2,411 | 61% | 39% |
| 2023/24 | 3,325 | 3,059 | 2,274 | 57% | 43% |
| 2022/23 | 3,325 | 3,084 | 2,379 | 56% | 44% |
| 2021/22 | 1,249 | 1,249 | 2,055 | 38% | 62% |
| 2020/21 | 1,811 | 1,811 | 2,079 | 47% | 53% |
Why spend is GREEN
Projected 2025/26 capital spend of £4.871m matches the full DfT allocation. Combined capital and revenue spend has risen from £3.89m in 2020/21 to £8.29m projected — a 113% increase — with preventative share climbing from 47% to a projected 59%.
Why claims still happen
The council admits "slippage" in delivery programmes from consultation impacts, deferred schemes and resourcing issues. Spend volume and prevention targets do not prove every defect was caught within inspection intervals — especially on 636km of U-roads where the latest condition improvement reflects a survey change.
Pothole Repair Volumes
Estimated potholes filled — from the council's June 2025 transparency report
| Year | Potholes filled | Change vs 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 6,040 | Baseline |
| 2021/22 | 5,858 | −3.0% |
| 2022/23 | 5,461 | −9.6% |
| 2023/24 | 7,973 | +32.0% |
| 2024/25 | 6,431 | +6.5% |
| 2025/26 (projected) | 7,500 | +24.2% |
"Some slippage occurs between years, this is caused by delays in completing the delivery programme due to a variety of reasons, from impacts of consultation to deferring schemes to complement wider initiatives and occasionally some works are delayed due to external influences and resourcing issues."
— City of Wolverhampton Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report (June 2025)
Roughly 22 patches a day
7,973 pothole repairs in 2023/24 works out to roughly 22 patches per day across 775.5km. The council projects 7,500 for 2025/26 while planning just ~26km of preventative carriageway treatment — about 3.4% of the network. Reactive workload remains structurally high.
Planned Work 2025/26
What City of Wolverhampton Council says it will deliver this financial year
~7km
Carriageway resurfacing
~16km
Surface dressing
~3km
Micro asphalt
7,500
Potholes expected
Coverage maths
Combined preventative carriageway treatment of ~26km would cover roughly 3.4% of the 775.5km network in a single year. The remaining 97% relies on reactive patching, routine safety inspections and AI-led condition surveys to catch deterioration — on a network where the council still budgets for 7,500 pothole fills and admits delivery slippage in planned works.
Claiming Against an Amber-Rated Council
Honest assessment: Wolverhampton invests heavily — but reactive workload and survey caveats create openings
What works in the council's favour
- ✓ GREEN spend scorecard — capital spend matches full DfT allocation
- ✓ Classified A and B/C road condition improving on SCANNER data
- ✓ 59% preventative spend projected for 2025/26
- ✓ Annual SCANNER surveys on classified roads from 2024
- ✓ Documented innovation — velocity patching, warm mix asphalt, AI surveys
Expect a prepared Section 58 defence on principal classified roads with strong SCANNER scores.
What works in yours
- ✗ AMBER overall, condition and best-practice scorecards from DfT
- ✗ 635.8km of U-roads — 82% of network — with AI survey methodology change
- ✗ Council admits U-road improvement reflects survey change, not maintenance
- ✗ 7,973 pothole fills in 2023/24 — 46% spike from prior year
- ✗ Admitted delivery slippage from deferred schemes and resourcing issues
- ✗ ~26km preventative treatment planned — 3.4% of network annually
The winning strategy here is specificity
Against a council with GREEN spend and improving classified-road SCANNER data, your claim lives or dies on the specific defect and road type:
- • Prior reports of the same pothole (Love Clean Streets, council portal) — proof of actual notice
- • Photos showing defect size, depth and visible age (weathered edges, previous patching)
- • Road class — on a U-road, the AI survey transition caveat is your strongest structural argument
- • Whether planned preventative works reached your street before the council deferred them
Mac builds exactly this case: prior-report search, photo assessment, and citations from Wolverhampton's own transparency data — including the survey-methodology admission — where it helps you.
Report a Pothole to City of Wolverhampton Council
Reporting a defect creates a record the council had notice. Do this before claiming — and tell us when you reported it so we can reference it in your pack. The council states carriageway defects must be at least 50mm deep to meet its reporting intervention threshold.
Report a pothole — wolverhampton.gov.ukHit a Pothole in Wolverhampton?
An amber-rated council with high reactive workload demands a precise claim. £35 for a professional claim pack.
DIY claim
- • Submit photos and invoices
- • Use generic template letter
- • No U-road survey-methodology argument
- • No prior-report search
- • No slippage admission cited
Professional claim pack
- ✅ 7,500 projected repairs and 46% spike documented
- ✅ U-road AI survey caveat cited
- ✅ Delivery slippage admission leveraged
- ✅ Prior reports searched and attached
- ✅ Section 58 rebuttal tailored to Wolverhampton
No percentage fees. You keep 100% of any compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Wolverhampton's AMBER DfT rating mean I can claim?
Yes — a rating is not a bar to claiming. The Department for Transport rates City of Wolverhampton Council AMBER overall and on condition, GREEN on spend, and AMBER on best practice. Section 58 turns on whether the specific defect that damaged your vehicle was reasonably inspected and repaired — not on headline scorecards. The council's own report projects 7,500 pothole fills for 2025/26 and admits U-road condition improvements reflect a survey-method change, not completed maintenance.
Why is Wolverhampton projecting 7,500 pothole repairs if 59% of spend is preventative?
The council plans 59% preventative and 41% reactive maintenance for 2025/26, yet still estimates 7,500 pothole fills — its second-highest count in the published five-year series after 7,973 in 2023/24. Higher preventative percentages have not eliminated reactive workload: fills rose 46% between 2022/23 and 2023/24 despite 56–57% preventative spend in those years. That pattern shows defects still form across the network; your claim turns on your specific road and defect, not aggregate prevention targets.
Wolverhampton says U-road condition improved. Does that weaken my claim?
Not automatically — and the council qualifies the headline. U-road red-condition share fell from 33% in 2023 to 20% in 2024 after switching to Vaisala AI surveys. The transparency report states explicitly that this reduction "reflects a change in how roads are surveyed rather than any completed maintenance." If your pothole was on a residential U-road — 636km, 82% of the network — cite the methodology caveat alongside photos and prior reports rather than accepting improved percentages at face value.
What if my pothole was on a residential or unclassified road?
Unclassified roads make up 635.8km — 82% of Wolverhampton's 775.5km carriageway network. These routes are now assessed using Vaisala AI condition surveys aligned to Coarse Visual Inspection standards, replacing earlier visual inspections that updated only 25% of the network annually. At the last published survey, 20% of U-roads were in red condition. If your incident fell between surveys or on a street not yet treated under the 2025/26 resurfacing programme (~26km of preventative carriageway works planned), network-level percentages may not capture your defect.
What does the 46% pothole spike in 2023/24 mean for my case?
Pothole fills jumped from 5,461 in 2022/23 to 7,973 in 2023/24 — a 46% rise — before falling to 6,431 in 2024/25. That spike happened while preventative spend was 56–57%. It is evidence of a reactive workload surge, not proof your specific defect was unavoidable. Pair the trend with prior reports, photos showing defect age, and the council's own admission of "slippage" in planned works when challenging a Section 58 defence.
Wolverhampton has GREEN spend — does that block my claim?
No. GREEN spend reflects projected 2025/26 capital spend of £4.871m matching the full DfT allocation, with total capital and revenue highways spend rising from £3.89m in 2020/21 to £8.29m projected. Aggregate investment does not prove the individual pothole was known and repaired within inspection intervals. The council also admits delivery "slippage" from consultation delays, deferred schemes and resourcing issues — which raises questions about whether planned maintenance reached your road.
How do I report a pothole to City of Wolverhampton Council?
Report potholes via the council's online form or the Love Clean Streets app at wolverhampton.gov.uk. The council states carriageway defects need to be at least 50mm deep to meet intervention criteria for reporting. Prior reports of the same defect strengthen a claim by demonstrating the council had notice before your incident. Fixtyer searches for existing reports and attaches them to your claim pack.
Data sources: Department for Transport — Local Road Maintenance Ratings 2025 to 2026 | City of Wolverhampton Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report (June 2025). 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.