A new ‘traffic light’ rating system has been introduced by central government for local highway authorities.

The new system measures how well local authorities (including Torbay Council) are maintaining their roads for the current year and helps determine how highways funding is allocated.

The ratings have been developed to assist with government’s plans to improve the condition of local roads across the country.

As part of a newly introduced process, a proportion of the allocated highway maintenance funding was retained by government, subject to authorities demonstrating - by submission of a range of information regarding their highway maintenance programme, known as ‘Transparency Reports’ - appropriate spending plans and management of their highway network in accordance with national guidance and best practice.

For Torbay, the overall rating was ‘amber’, which suggests that whilst we provide an acceptable or good service in many areas of our highway provision, there is room for some improvements. The ‘amber’ rating is however comparable to the majority of local highway authorities across the country, with only a small number receiving the higher ‘green’ rating.

The good news is that Torbay Council, as part of this process, has been successful in obtaining its full funding allocation for the current financial year.

Torbay’s roads themselves have received the highest rating of ‘green’ for road condition, but other aspects of the highways such as capital spend and best practice have been rated as ‘amber’.

Councillor Adam Billings, Cabinet Member for Pride in Place said: “I am pleased that Torbay has secured the full allocation of funding from the Department for Transport for the current year, and I assure our residents that every penny of this funding will be spent on improving the condition of our road network.

“However the level of funding still falls woefully short of what we need to really make a difference to the current backlog of major roads maintenance which is needed.

“I believe that our ability to secure sufficient funding may reflect in the ‘amber’ rating we have received for capital investment and I will be working with our local MPs to make a case for funding, which reflects the additional maintenance burdens that affect urban areas like Torbay. Despite these issues we have still received an encouraging ‘green’ rating for our road condition.

“The ‘amber’ rating for best practice is however disappointing, given the measures we have taken in recent years to fully comply with national guidance and practice, including our Asset Management Policy and Strategy, our new ‘risk based’ Highway Inspection Procedures and our commitment to investing in preventative maintenance.

“This is however the first year for these new reporting requirements and there did appear to be a lack of clear guidance for some of the information being requested, which may have impacted this rating. We have achieved an overall rating of ‘amber’ and this shows that we compare well to the majority of highway authorities, both nationally and regionally, however we will seek feedback from the Department for Transport for advice on how future submissions can be improved to ensure that we obtain the recognition we deserve for our highway management service.”

You can see how Torbay compares with other highways authorities on the Government website.