MOTORISTS in Barnsley can now see how the town fares on the national scale for tackling potholes on its road network after it was revealed the council orders an average of more than 1,000 repairs per month.

According to statistics, pothole repairs have cost Barnsley Council more than £2m to repair since 2023, with 50,000 reports being submitted in the time.

The Department for Transport (DfT) rated 154 local highway authorities as red, amber or green based on road conditions and how well they were using government funds.

Barnsley’s overall rating was amber, as was its roads’ condition scorecard, but its expenditure was given a green, meaning the council’s spending its repair cash wisely.

The vast majority of councils across the country were also rated as amber, meaning they were patching up roads and had preventative measures in place but there was still room for improvement.

Just 13 local authorities including Cumberland, Bolton, Kensington and Chelsea, Bedford, West Northamptonshire, North Lincolnshire and Derbyshire received a red rating.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “For too long drivers have paid the price because our roads were left to deteriorate.

“I have heard time and again their frustration on footing the bill because they hit a pothole money they should never have to spend in the first place.

“We’ve put our money where our mouth is, increasing the funding for local highway authorities to fix roads and given them the long-term certainty they have been asking for.

“Now it’s over to them to spend the money wisely and for the first time we are making sure the public can see how well councils are doing in delivering the improvements they want to see in their local area.

“This government’s record investment will save drivers money on repairs, make roads safer and help restore pride in our communities.”

The town’s ruling cabinet members signed off on a total of £17.3m investment over the next 12-month financial period.

Barnsley is also set to benefit from the government’s record investment into road maintenance after it was revealed that each council in South Yorkshire will receive a share of £500m.

As part of the government’s recent budget, councils will have a doubling of road maintenance funding by the end of this Parliament.

Councils will only be able to access this funding if they publish clear, accessible data on pothole repairs and maintenance activity, and demonstrate that they are following industry best practice.

This funding is on top of an investment of almost £1.6bn for local road maintenance this year, a £500m increase compared to 2024/25.

Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, told the Chronicle: “We have excellent teams out there carrying out emergency repairs when we need them, combined with a significant capital maintenance programme to improve our network to reduce the number of emergency repairs needed.

“I’d like to thank our highways teams for their incredible efforts, working in all conditions and throughout the night to improve our road network.”

There are a number of different ‘treatments’ the council use to ensure that the roads and pathways are maintained.

Resurfacing involves removing the top layer of a road surface and replacing it with a new layer, while retreading is a recycling process which reconstructs the entire carriageway surface to a depth of 75mm, recycling the existing carriageway surface without having to remove it from site.

Surface dressing, which has been earmarked for a number of the town’s roads, is a more cost-effective solution.

It involves applying a thin layer of bitumen and stone chippings to the surface of a road.

Sometimes it is necessary to fill in deeper potholes and defects first before this process is completed in what is known as ‘patching’.

Council bosses say their ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach is the way forward.

Coun Higginbottom added: “Like many councils we are rated amber overall by the Department for Transport, with a green rating in the category of spend, highlighting the significant investment we’re making into our highway network across Barnsley.

“We are proud to be investing just under £17.3m into our highway network this financial year so we can continue to build upon the progress we have already made in improving the borough’s roads.

“Our sustained investment is improving Barnsley’s roads, investing in our communities and unlocking economic growth opportunities across the borough.”

Barnsley North MP Dan Jarvis said: “Potholes are symptomatic of years of austerity and budget cuts.

“At the election, we pledged to fix an extra million potholes a year by the end of this Parliament.

“This announcement proves we’re putting our money where our mouth is and getting on with the job of repairing our broken roads.”