Somerset Council has been recognised as one of the highest‑performing local authorities in England for the condition of its roads and the way it maintains them, according to new gradings released this week by the Department for Transport.
The DfT’s updated national scoring system assesses councils on road condition, best‑practice maintenance and capital spend. Somerset has achieved strong results in two of the three categories.
The council ranks in the top 26 out of 153 authorities for overall road condition, with its A, B, C and unclassified roads all receiving a green rating under the DfT’s traffic‑light system.
It also received a green rating for its maintenance programme, which focuses heavily on preventative work such as resurfacing and surface dressing to stop potholes forming. This places Somerset in the top 21 authorities nationwide for effective preventative maintenance.
In the 2025/26 financial year, Somerset Council plans to resurface 55km of road and deliver 185km of preventative treatments. Of the nearly £45 million in DfT capital funding and just under £5 million in revenue spend, 89 per cent is expected to go towards preventative work, up from 80 per cent last year.
Despite these strong results, the council received an overall amber rating because the Government scored it red on capital spend, even though Somerset is forecast to spend 98 per cent of its annual DfT allocation by the end of the financial year.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services, welcomed the findings.
He says: “We are delighted to be scored among the top authorities in the country for road condition and the way we go about maintaining our roads. It underlines how important preventative work is in terms of stopping defects from forming and it shows our approach is successful.”
“What is confusing is how we are graded for spend, despite being forecast to spend virtually all of our Government allocation on preventative work, which is considered ‘best practice’ by DfT, we score a red category.”
“The new report shows that unlike many other authorities, we have managed to achieve a ‘green standard’ of road condition within the financial resources made available by Government, which demonstrates an exceptionally cost-effective service and value for money to the public purse.”
“However, we welcome the new transparency as it shows us as one of the most efficient authorities in the country.”
“We know that there is much more to be done and we are committed to focusing our efforts on preventative work across Somerset to ensure the condition of our roads continue to vastly improve and remain amongst the best in the country.”
Residents can report road issues using the council’s online reporting service.