Dear London Borough of Havering,

I am requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding potholes in the council area. I understand different councils may define potholes and repairs differently, so I would appreciate clarification if your council applies a specific threshold for logging or repairing potholes.

I would like to request the following data for the past five calendar years (2020–2024):

1. The number of potholes recorded each year, including potholes reported by the public and confirmed through council inspections (if these are reported differently)

2. The number of individual potholes repaired each year, including temporary repairs (e.g., patching) and permanent repairs (e.g., resurfacing). Note this refers to the number of individual potholes that were repaired, not the total number of repairs.

3. The total annual cost of pothole repairs, if available.

If the data is recorded differently, I would appreciate any comparable figures you can provide, along with a brief explanation of how pothole reports and repairs are logged in your system.
If this request exceeds the cost limit under the FOI Act, please let me know how it may be refined to remain within the statutory limits.

Thank you for your help; please let me know if you require any clarification or have any questions.

All the best,
Jamie Dixon

London Borough of Havering

 

 

 
[1]Image
[2]Image

Freedom of Information Request Case Confirmation
Your Reference HAV-FOI-145333

Thank you for your FOI Request dated 14 Feb 2025. We will try to resolve
your case by 14 Mar 2025

 

The details of your case are below

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Pothole reports and repairs

Services: Highways

 

Your Name: Jamie Dixon

Address:

Email: [FOI #1239823 email]

 

 

[3]Image

 

References

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London Borough of Havering

Dear Customer,

This email is to confirm the receipt of your request, a case officer has
been assigned to review your request and a formal acknowledgement will
follow in due course. 

 

 

With Kind Regards,

Naomi Eren | Triage and Research Officer

London Borough of Havering | Customer Insight, Information and
Investigations

 

Pronouns: She / Her / Hers / Herself

 

t 01708 434343

w [1]www.havering.gov.uk

 

cid:image003.jpg@01D90B11.EE1DF2F0

Sign up for [2]email updates for local news and information

References

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1. https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlo...

London Borough of Havering

Dear Jamie Dixon

Acknowledgement of Information Request - HAV-FOI-145333

We acknowledge receipt of your request for information received
14/02/2025. Your online form is being considered and you will receive a
response to your request as soon as possible. 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 allows authorities 20 working days, following date of
receipt, in which to respond to requests.  You may be aware the
legislation defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of
the information you have requested.  If any of the exemption categories
apply then the information will not be released. In these cases, we will
inform you of any exemptions we have applied together with our reasons for
withholding the information and your rights of appeal. 

Please bear in mind the legislation allows access to information 'held' by
the Council and not for the creation of new information or opinion. 
Therefore, we may only be able to supply documents or data that contain
the information we hold in response to your request.

There may be a fee payable for the supply of information.  This will be
calculated and you will be informed if a charge applies. In this event,
the fee must be paid before the information is released.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us by
responding to this email, please do not change the subject line.

Further information is available from the following:

Office of the Information Commissioner 
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone:   0303 123 1113
[1]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

 

Customer Insight, Information & Investigations Team

London Borough of Havering

Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, RM1 3BB

t 01708 434343 | 

e [Havering Borough Council request email] - Entering case reference in the subject line 

w [2]www.havering.gov.uk

text relay 18001 01708 434343

Sign up for [3]email updates for local news and information

To make a Freedom of Information Request: [4]Making a Freedom of
Information request

To make a Subject Access Request: [5]Requesting personal information -
Subject Access Request

To make a complaint: [6]Complaints | Complaints | The London Borough Of
Havering

To make a social care complaint: [7]Make a complaint about Adult or
Childrens Social Care

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. http://www.havering.gov.uk/
3. http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/Service...
4. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
5. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
6. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20047/c...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20047/c...
7. https://www.havering.gov.uk/socialcareco...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/socialcareco...

London Borough of Havering

Dear Jamie Dixon

I refer to your request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Your request has been considered, and the response is as follows: 

┌───────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Information│ Dear London Borough of Havering, I am │
│ │requesting information under the Freedom of │
│ │Information Act 2000 regarding potholes in the │
│ │council area. I understand different councils │
│ │may define potholes and repairs differently, so │
│ │I would appreciate clarification if your council│
│ │applies a specific threshold for logging or │
│ │repairing potholes. │
│ │ │
│ │If the data is recorded differently, I would │
│ │appreciate any comparable figures you can │
│ │provide, along with a brief explanation of how │
│ │pothole reports and repairs are logged in your │
│ │system. │
│ │ │
│ │I would like to request the following data for │
│ │the past five calendar years (2020–2024): │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Question 1 │ 1. The number of potholes recorded each year, │
│ │including potholes reported by the public and │
│ │confirmed through council inspections (if these │
│ │are reported differently)  │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Response │2020:   2279 │
│ │ │
│ │2021:   3203 │
│ │ │
│ │2022:   2385 │
│ │ │
│ │2023:   3402 │
│ │ │
│ │2024:   2887 │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Question 2 │ 2. The number of individual potholes repaired │
│ │each year, including temporary repairs (e.g., │
│ │patching) and permanent repairs (e.g., │
│ │resurfacing). Note this refers to the number of │
│ │individual potholes that were repaired, not the │
│ │total number of repairs.  │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Response │2020:   2279 │
│ │ │
│ │2021:   3203 │
│ │ │
│ │2022:   2385 │
│ │ │
│ │2023:   3402 │
│ │ │
│ │2024:   2887 │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Question 3 │3. The total annual cost of pothole repairs, if │
│ │available.  │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │2019/20 = £1.0m │
│ │ │
│ │2020/21 = £367k (Value may not be complete) │
│ │ │
│Response │2021/22 = £19.8k (Value may not be complete) │
│ │ │
│ │2022/23 = £1.9m │
│ │ │
│ │2023/24 = £2.3m │
└───────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 

Please note: The Council records all complaints on the CRM system. The
Area operations officers inspect each CRM enquiry and evaluate the defect
on a risk based approach, however the investigatory level for a category 1
defect in the carriageway is a pothole that is 40mm deep x 400mm wide in
any direction

We trust the information is of use to you, we now consider your request
closed. 

If you are dissatisfied with how your request has been handled, you have
the right to request an internal review within 2 months. You can do this
by responding to this email, please do not change the subject line.
Alternatively you can write in to the following postal address: 

Customer Insight, Information & Investigations Team 

London Borough of Havering 

Town Hall 

Main Road 

Romford 

RM1 3BD 

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner at the
following address: 

Office of the Information Commissioner 

Wycliffe House 

Water Lane 

Wilmslow 

Cheshire 

SK9 5AF 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 

Website: [1]www.ico.org.uk  

Yours sincerely, 

Customer Insight, Information & Investigations Team

London Borough of Havering

Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, RM1 3BB

t 01708 434343 | 

e [Havering Borough Council request email] - Entering case reference in the subject line 

w [2]www.havering.gov.uk

text relay 18001 01708 434343

Sign up for [3]email updates for local news and information

To make a Freedom of Information Request: [4]Making a Freedom of
Information request

To make a Subject Access Request: [5]Requesting personal information -
Subject Access Request

To make a complaint: [6]Complaints | Complaints | The London Borough Of
Havering

To make a social care complaint: [7]Make a complaint about Adult or
Childrens Social Care

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/
2. http://www.havering.gov.uk/
3. http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/Service...
4. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
5. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20044/f...
6. https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20047/c...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20047/c...
7. https://www.havering.gov.uk/socialcareco...
https://www.havering.gov.uk/socialcareco...