1. In the last financial year (2019/20) (a) how much money was paid as compensation for property damage and personal injury caused by potholes (please include legal expenses), and (b) how many individual claims did this represent?
Please note that the council records claims information by calendar year rather than by financial year. As such, we have answered questions 1. and 2. for the 2019 calendar year.

In 2019, 9 of the claims that were passed to the council’s Public Liability insurers where injury or property damage was allegedly caused by ‘potholes’ were settled. The total compensation paid (including legal costs where applicable) was £8,079.09.

2. Please tell me the value of the biggest claim settled in 2019/20, and the location of the pothole that caused the incident. Please provide a brief description of the incident (e.g. cyclist fell off bike going over pothole and broke their leg). If possible, please break up the cost of the claim between compensation paid and legal expenses.
The largest single claim paid was for a total of £5,800 in respect of a cyclist who was injured in Pound Lane in Sonning.

3. How many potholes did you repair in (a) 2018/19 and (b) 2019/20?
2018/19: 2667, estimate of number of potholes repaired
2019: Summaries of monthly reactive carriageway repairs including numbers of repairs from Jan 2019 onwards are published on the Wokingham Borough public website at: https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor-maintenance/roadworks-and-road-maintenance/pothole-and-road-repairs-schedule
2020: Summaries of monthly reactive carriageway repairs including numbers of repairs from Jan 2019 onwards are published on the Wokingham Borough public website at: https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor-maintenance/roadworks-and-road-maintenance/pothole-and-road-repairs-schedule

4. What was your budget spend on repairing potholes in (a) 2018/19 and (b) 2019/20?
2018/19: £151,479.15, estimate of cost of pothole repairs
2019: Summaries of monthly reactive carriageway repairs including expenditure from Jan 2019 onwards are published on the Wokingham Borough public website at: https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor-maintenance/roadworks-and-road-maintenance/pothole-and-road-repairs-schedule
2020: Summaries of monthly reactive carriageway repairs including expenditure from Jan 2019 onwards are published on the Wokingham Borough public website at: https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor-maintenance/roadworks-and-road-maintenance/pothole-and-road-repairs-schedule

5. Do you have a current estimate for the cost to your authority of repairing an average pothole? If so how much is this estimate?
Under current highway defect reporting arrangements, applicable from 1st April 2019 onwards, potholes are not distinguished from other forms of road damage in Wokingham Borough. Accordingly the cost per pothole repair cannot be calculated.

6. Please provide me with any figure you have for the number of potholes that require repair as of the date of this e-mail, or nearest convenient date.
As at 16 April 2021, it is estimated that there were 124 carriageway defects awaiting repair, including potholes.

7. (a) What was your budget for the repair of potholes in the 2020/21 financial year? (b) Please provide me with a current estimate of how much over or under budget you expect to be at the end of the financial year in relation to your spend from your pothole repair budget for 2020/21?
Wokingham Borough Council does not have a budget specifically for the repair of potholes, only a "reactive" maintenance budget which encompasses "reactive" (short-term, generally safety related) repairs to all highway-related infrastructure. This would include carriageways, footways, street furniture, signs, etc.