CLAIMS made by motoring body the RAC and reports by the BBC that its increased compensation costs of potholes are among the highest in the country have been rejected by Hampshire County Council.

Following an article in The Herald two weeks ago, Rob Humby said: “Both the number of compensation claims made to the county council and the amount of compensation paid for pothole-related damage has gone down since last year.

“Figures around compensation claims for potholes, however, are only ever part of the story,” said Mr Humby, who is the council’s executive member for environment and transport at the authority’s Winchester headquarters.

“For example, claims paid may not always match the financial year in which the claim was made.

“I would also add there is no automatic right to compensation and each claim is investigated to determine liability as it’s essential to ensure that council taxpayers’ money is used appropriately.

“During the winter of 2014, Hampshire’s roads suffered severely from prolonged flooding, a fact acknowledged by the Government when an extra £17.5m was allocated to repair the potholes and damage done to the roads during the extreme weather.

“Good transport infrastructure is vital for the county’s economic prosperity, and the council is committed to providing this for the residents and businesses of Hampshire.

“We are determined to minimise pothole numbers, always looking for efficient, value for money and innovative ways to look after our roads."

Mr Humby added: “Despite continued reductions in government grants, Hampshire remains consistently the top county council in the South East in terms of public satisfaction with highways maintenance and continues to perform well in line with top performing authorities when it comes to the condition of the road network. This is because we’ve worked really hard to find ways to invest in highways maintenance.

“In Hampshire, we take an asset management approach to maintaining the roads, with £10m of investment going into our efficient Operation Resilience programme each year to deliver long-term structural repairs and improvements which last longer - and are, therefore, more cost effective.”

The council stated the amount of compensation paid for pothole-related damage in 2015/16 was just £75,046.27, compared to £277,399.69 in 2014/15.

The amount of compensation paid as a result of highways incidents in 2015/16 was also lower at £92,368.56 compared to £299,154.74 in 2014/15.

The council has given a cautious welcome to the Government’s announcement on investment in road repairs, which is for structural road improvements but the county has highlighted an increasing pressure on funding for day-to-day road maintenance.

Mr Humby said: “This is welcome recognition for Hampshire’s long-term, asset management approach, maintaining the roads in the most cost effective way.” 

In addition to Government funding announced last year, Hampshire has been awarded £5million for capital maintenance from the new National Productivity Investment Fund.

“This is one of four separate funds for roads from which the Government has allocated money to councils - to improve the condition of roads, to help with potholes, to repair and maintain infrastructure, and to reward those authorities who have demonstrated best practice in improving the long term condition of the roads.

“Overall, it looks like the Government has given us £5million with one hand and taking away £5million with the other”, Mr Humby said. “This means we can maintain the same level of spend on roads as in recent years but this is directed more than ever to long term capital improvement works leaving less resource for the day-to-day activities which I know are important to residents.

“With ever-increasing traffic and the continued squeeze on council budgets, I believe the time is right for the Government to look at the significant sums it receives from motoring taxes and gives councils the revenue and capital resources to maintain the critical infrastructure that supports local communities and keeps the national economy going.”

Hampshire is backing the latest calls from the RAC and the AA for greater Government investment in roads – re-stating its own long-standing concerns about central funding for highways maintenance.

“I quite agree with the call for more investment for local highway authorities to maintain and improve the road network.

“It’s important councils, who are already facing considerable funding pressures, are given the help they need to maintain this critical infrastructure.

“Hampshire is one of the largest counties in England, with over 5,300 miles of road – much of it rural. We estimate around 95 per cent of all journeys are made on Hampshire’s roads and footways and, with one of the largest and busiest road networks in the country, the impact this has on the highways and footways is huge.

“Additionally, Hampshire has the highest car ownership in the country, and, our geography in the South means traffic on our local roads leading to major motorways and trunk roads between major ports, airports, and routes to London and the industrial Midlands certainly takes its toll.

Potholes can be reported direct onto the website hants.gov.uk.