Derby Lib Dems accuse Councils of being “asleep at the wheel” amid pothole ratings

14 Jan 2026

New data, introduced by the Government’s Department for Transport, has introduced a new traffic-light Council rating system for potholes and road maintenance, leaving Derby City with an AMBER rating, whilst Derbyshire County Council has a RED rating.

Locally, Derby’s Liberal Democrats have condemned Derby City and Derbyshire County Councils for being “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to repairing potholes across our area.

In our region, Derbyshire County Council is listed as RED, this is despite Reform’s pledge last year to be their priority to fix potholes. Clearly they are not meeting expected standards in one or more key areas of road maintenance. This is a clear warning sign that basic standards are being missed.

The Liberal Democrats have said that road repairs must go hand-in-hand with fixing the broken system of social care funding, which continues to drain council finances and crowd out investment in basic services like road maintenance.

We spend time reporting road defects and potholes to the Council so that they know where to look. It can still take weeks to get a fix and then it often is temporary.

Cllr Lucy Care, leader of Liberal Democrats on Derby City Council said:

“It is shocking to see our council marked AMBER and our neighbouring Derbyshire County Council marked RED for failing to tackle potholes locally.

“This crisis is the direct result of years of Government neglect and Council mismanagement, both Councils are asleep at the wheel and failing to deal with the issue. It is frustrating that Reform came to power in the County on a promise to fix potholes and now the roads are worse than when they came to power.

“Liberal Democrats are calling for real action to tackle potholes.

“ Residents in Derby need urgent local action by Derby City and Derbyshire County Councils together with long-term funding to stop potholes coming back year after year.”

ENDS

Editor notes:

Check your local region for its Red-Amber-Green mark here https://maps.dft.gov.uk/local-road-maintenance-ratings-map/index.html

This data is also broken down at council level here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-road-maintenance-ratings/local-road-maintenance-ratings-2025-to-2026

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