A NEW school-style reporting system monitoring the state of roads across the United Kingdom has told Cornwall Council and Devon County Council that it must do better.

In the new ‘traffic light’ scorecard system which monitors how each local authority is maintaining its local roads, both councils have been awarded ‘amber’ ratings.

The scoring system measures how well each local authority maintains its local roads in three categories, namely the current condition of the local roads, how much is being spent on maintaining the local roads and how effectively each local authority is following best practice in highway maintenance, for example by using technology to fix and prevent potholes more efficiently.

Cornwall Council were awarded a green rating for the overall condition of the Duchy’s roads, while given amber ratings for the amount of money spent and its adoption of the wider best practice. With the two amber ratings, its overall rating is amber for the 2025 to 2026 report.

Meanwhile Devon’s ratings featured one red rating. It was given an amber rating for the overall condition of the county’s roads, while the government considered that the authority was not spending enough money on maintaining its roads, rating the scorecard as red while it was also considered to require improvements to maintain best practice with another amber.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport stated: “The ratings are based on data from official statistics and data from the transparency reports that local highway authorities had to publish on their websites. Links to each local highway authority’s transparency report are provided in the table below.

“Local authorities with good local road condition, high adoption of best practice, and that invest significantly into maintaining their roads receive a green rating, while those where performance is more mixed or consistently weaker across these areas receive an amber or red rating.”