1.How much has Devon County Council allocated in the current financial year, and how much was spent in each of the five preceding financial years, for the maintenance of roads for which it is the highway authority?
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22(Budget) | |
| £ | 58,114,000 | 59,863,000 | 73,091,000 | 65,441,000 | 78,328,000 | 73,073,000 |
Note: Road spend does not include streetlighting, public right of way and highway structures improvement values, all which are funded from highway allocations.
2. Of these sums, how much has Devon County Council allocated in the current financial year, and spent in each of the five preceding years, for maintaining B Roads and Unclassified Roads for which it is the highway authority?
The council are unable to answer this question as cost coding is not captured in sufficient detail to capture B roads and Unclassified road elements of many highway operations, therefore this information is not held.
3. In total, how many potholes have been reported to Devon County Council in the current financial year to date and in each of the five preceding financial years?
| Year | Potholes Reported |
| 2021/22 | 38594 |
| 2020/21 | 52125 |
| 2019/20 | 48489 |
| 2018/19 | 61968 |
| 2017/18 | 55892 |
| 2016/17 | Provided in previous answers |
4. How many of these potholes reported to Devon County Council, in the current financial year to date and in each of the preceding five financial years, were on B Roads and Unclassified Roads?
This information is held however, it is not held in a manner that can be easily extracted from our system. To obtain this answer would require checking the individual record of approximately 300,000 entries therefore, Devon County Council believe compliance with this request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time. As such, we consider that Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies.
5. In total, how many potholes has Devon County Council repaired on its roads in the current financial year to date, and in each of the five preceding financial years?
| Year | Potholes Repaired |
| 2021/22 | 36235 |
| 2020/21 | 49113 |
| 2019/20 | 45827 |
| 2018/19 | 61179 |
| 2017/18 | 55413 |
| 2016/17 | Provided in previous answers |
6. Of the potholes repaired by Devon County Council on its roads in the current financial year to date, and in each of the five preceding financial years, how many were on B Roads or Unclassified Roads?
This information is held however, it is not held in a manner that can be easily extracted from our system. To obtain this answer would require checking the individual record of approximately 300,000 entries therefore, Devon County Council believe compliance with this request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time. As such, we consider that Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies.
7. For how long has Devon County Council had the policy of only repairing potholes that are 40mm deep and 300mm wide?
The dimensions stated in the question relate to a carriageway pothole and have been used to assess carriageway potholes for over 20 years. The Highway Safety Policy which can be viewed at this Devon County Council web page provides more detail as to the circumstances and situations alternative dimensions would apply.
8. Prior to the policy mentioned in (7) being introduced, what was the ‘minimum intervention standard’ used by the council for deciding on whether to repair potholes?
This information is not held.
A copy of Devon’s Highways Inspection and Road Safety policy can be found on this Devon County Council webpage