Highways Weather Preparation
Case reference FOI2026/02010
Received 21 August 2026
Published 17 September 2026
Request
A) Please provide the following information:
2025 information (Balfour Beatty Living Places contractor):
1) Number of drainage or drainage items inspected by a highways officer during June, July & August
2) number of drains and drain items cleared during June, July & August
3) number of ditches cleared during June, July & August
4) number of channels cleared in verges to take water off a road into a ditch during June, July & August
5) number of claims for potholes during June, July & August
6) number of roads flooded or closed because of flooding during June, July & August
7) number of grit bins refilled during June, July & August
2026 information (M Group contractor):
1) Number of drainage or drainage items inspected by a highways officer during June, July & August
2) number of drains and drain items cleared during June, July & August
3) number of ditches cleared during June, July & August
4) number of channels cleared in verges to take water off a road into a ditch during June, July & August
5) number of claims for potholes during June, July & August
6) number of roads flooded or closed because of flooding during June, July & August
7) number of grit bins refilled during June, July & August
B) does Herefordshire council feel adequately prepared for adverse weather as a result of the El Niño shift.
C) total amount invested in drainage maintenance and improvements 2025 VS 2026
Response
A) Please provide the following information:
2025 information (Balfour Beatty Living Places contractor):
1) Number of drainage or drainage items inspected by a highways officer during June, July & August
Answer: Information Not Held.
The service area has advised they don’t have a record of inspected assets themselves, as these are ad-hoc and carried out any time they are travelling the roads and multiple inspections can be carried out during one job. Many site visits are not related to an enquiry, and instead are just requests from colleagues, or councilors, through email, verbally or phone calls. Therefore, there is not a data driven answer.
2) number of drains and drain items cleared during June, July & August
Answer: 771 ad hoc, 5835 cyclical.
3) number of ditches cleared during June, July & August
Answer: 81.
4) number of channels cleared in verges to take water off a road into a ditch during June, July & August
Answer: 205.
5) number of claims for potholes during June, July & August
Answer:
June -16
July – 3
August - 9
6) number of roads flooded or closed because of flooding during June, July & August
Answer: 0
7) number of grit bins refilled during June, July & August
Answer: 0
2026 information (M Group contractor):
1) Number of drainage or drainage items inspected by a highways officer during June, July & August
Answer: Information not Held.
2) number of drains and drain items cleared during June, July & August
Answer: 1525
3) number of ditches cleared during June, July & August
Answer: 0
4) number of channels cleared in verges to take water off a road into a ditch during June, July & August
Answer: 0
5) number of claims for potholes during June, July & August
Answer:
June – 8
July 9
August - 5
6) number of roads flooded or closed because of flooding during June, July & August
Answer: 0
7) number of grit bins refilled during June, July & August
Answer: 0
B) does Herefordshire council feel adequately prepared for adverse weather as a result of the El Niño shift.
Answer: This question falls outside the remit of the FOI Act, because it’s a request for an opinion rather than a request for recorded information.
C) total amount invested in drainage maintenance and improvements 2025 VS 2026
Answer:
Financial Year 25/26 - £3,827,357.69
Financial Year 26/27 - £1,878,902.80
Please note, the service area has advised they report on a Financial Year basis and not on Calendar years. The FY25/26 is actual spend and FY 26/27 is a combination of actual spend and budget allocation
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.