The Royal Borough of Greenwich has today (13 January 2025) requested an urgent and exceptional review of the Department of Transport’s road ratings following discussions that show discrepancies in how data has been compared.
Inconsistencies in spending figures provided from council-to-council has painted a misleading picture of roads in Greenwich, a concern shared by ADEPT, a leading industry body. It is important to note that while the conditions of the borough’s roads are amber, the borough has been given a red rating overall.
In a letter to Minister Simon Lightwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport, the council has set out its concerns and looks forward to working at speed with the government to set this right.
Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Sustainability and Transport, said: “The rating we’ve been given, as the Department For Transport (DfT) have acknowledged, results largely from the incomplete data that they made the assessment on. When the data was requested the DfT guidance was unclear, meaning that while we only shared spend for road resurfacing, other’s included winter gritting, lighting and other works. This means that the DfT rating isn’t comparing like with like, and presents a very misleading picture.
“We’re sharing updated figures with the DfT which show the borough is in fact going above and beyond, and are requesting an exceptional rating review in light of this. When looking at the actual condition of our roads, our score is in line with neighbouring boroughs, including those who have received a green rating.
“And the picture changes further when you take into account the more than doubling of our budget for road and pavement resurfacing, to over £8m for the next 5 years, through the Getting Things Done programme.
“The most important thing is that our roads are safe, and we know they are – as reflected in the fact that that itself was rated amber. We welcome the engagement we’ve had with the DfT since they published their rating, and look forward to the peer-review process so that we can demonstrate the progress we have made with our new road condition surveys and asset management plan, and we are keen learn further lessons to ensure we are delivering for our residents.”