Transport Insights

I have got an explanation of sorts for the Department for Transport (DfT) postponing its latest road condition data because of an “issue”, but I have to admit that I am none the wiser.

The department said last month that it was postponing publication of Road Conditions in England to March 2025, which was scheduled for 25 November 2025 but will now be published in January 2026.

It explained:

This is due to a data issue identified by a data provider which means some of the underlying data which informs these statistics needs to be reprocessed. It is essential this step is undertaken prior to publication to ensure the ongoing quality standards of these statistics. We are temporarily pausing the release of this publication whilst we work with the data provider to resolve this issue.

This is taking place at a time when the DfT is seeking to move to a new model for councils to report on the condition of their A, B and C roads, although councils are still using the old methodology and did so last year.

This involves using the Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads (SCANNER) system.

I asked the DfT to clarify the issue with last year’s data. A spokesperson told me:

Road Conditions in England are Official Statistics released by the Department for Transport and are held to the standards set in the Code of Practice for Statistics. One of the core pillars of the code is quality and as such producers must use suitable data sources and sound methods and assure the quality of the statistics across the production and release processes. Although an issue was identified in a small amount of data, this must addressed accordingly ensure the quality of our statistics and abide by the code.

It all makes sense and it’s good to see officials taking this seriously but I would have liked to know what the “issue” was.