Row over Bedford road maintenance rating as Government tells council to 'get on with improving'

In a letter sent last week to the minister for roads and buses, Simon Lightwood, Bedford mayor Tom Wootton said an “incorrect red flag” had been issued under the Department for Transport’s (DfT) highways maintenance map and called for it to be urgently corrected.

The mayor wrote that is was “disappointing” that an error was made in the data originally submitted to the DfT.

“However, council officers acted immediately once the issue was identified and supplied the correct figures without delay early January 2026,” the letter said.

“It is therefore reasonable to expect that the Department would have corrected the scoring promptly.

“The fact that this has still not been resolved, despite the council’s swift action, has only intensified the reputational and operational impact on Bedford,” the mayor wrote.

But a DfT spokesperson said the ratings were “a snapshot in time” and based on information submitted by councils themselves.

“It’s now up to Bedford Borough Council to get on with improving and maintaining its roads,” the spokesperson said.

“The ratings follow a clear, published methodology using data from official statistics and highways maintenance transparency reports that local authorities provided themselves.”

According to the DfT, Bedford’s rating was based on data the council included in its highways maintenance transparency report as of June 30, 2025, including a statement that it planned to invest £3.2 million in highway maintenance in 2025/26.

This compares to £6.3 million allocated to the authority by the DfT for the same period.

The Department also said council officers confirmed plans to resurface 3.5 miles of carriageway, with around 120 miles of the borough’s road network classed within the lowest condition category.

In his letter, mayor Wootton said the council had “clearly demonstrated a significantly higher level of investment” (around £9.5 million) than reflected in the current rating.

“This level of spend equates to a capital investment ratio of approximately x150, which based on the DfT’s own scoring methodology-should achieve a score of at least 80 points, not a red rating,” the mayor wrote.

“The current classification is therefore inconsistent with the evidence and does not reflect Bedford’s actual performance or commitment to maintaining its network.”

The DfT said it expects all councils to provide accurate information in their transparency reports, particularly where funding is linked to the data.