East Renfrewshire Council Repairs Almost 12,500 Potholes

East Renfrewshire Council has repaired almost 12,500 potholes in its target timeframe over the past two years.

In 2022/23, the council repaired 7,161 potholes, with 98.4% of repairs completed within target timescales.

Already this financial year, 5,282 potholes have been repaired, with the number fixed by the target response time increasing to 99.8%.

The number of roads in East Renfrewshire grows each year with the adoption of new roads, mainly serving new housing developments.

Potholes are repaired as part of a strategy recommended by the Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists (SCOTS) and the 'Well Managed Highway Infrastructure' Code of Practice produced by the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKRLG).


This approach allows the council to prioritise its response to safety defect repairs. Target response times are dependent upon the degree of risk posed by the pothole. Factors include depth, surface area, location within the road network and the usage of the road or pavement.

Road inspectors are trained to carry out a risk analysis of defects identified during inspections or reported by customers which then determines which response time is allocated to the repair. All first priority defects have a target response time of 24 hours.

The council's dedicated pothole repair teams working almost every day, with three teams regularly working during the winter months when pothole numbers increase due to the effects of the weather.

Teams repair potholes on a first time permanent basis whenever possible however on rare occasions when poor weather conditions or other problems arise the timescale required to carry out a permanent repair can increase and it may be essential in the interests of road safety to carry out a quick fix temporary repair.

Alongside this, in its 2019/20 budget, the council has committed an additional £15m capital investment for roads infrastructure enhancements over the following five years.