Banbury MP tells county council to 'up their game' over fixing potholes

Sean Woodcock wrote to council leader Liz Leffman yesterday (March 25) demanding that the council does everything in its power to fix the pothole problem in Oxfordshire.

It came after the government’s announcement that all councils in England must now publish information about how many potholes they’ve repaired.

If the authorities accurately publish their work on tackling potholes, they will receive their share of the £500m of funding from the Department for Transport, which is a part of the government’s £1.6bn highway maintenance funding.

If they do not publish their results, then councils will lose 25 per cent or £125m of the funding, which will be reallocated to other councils.

Oxfordshire County Council is set to receive £8.9m in funding to tackle approximately 124,200 potholes. To receive more money, the council will need to publish an annual report and prove public confidence in its work.

In the letter, Sean Woodcock said: “This year, Labour is investing a record £1.6bn in highway maintenance funding – it is critical that you ensure you take advantage of the support from the Labour Government and finally get on top of the potholes that drive motorists mad.

“This includes £8.9m of funding for Oxfordshire to tackle 124,204 potholes. The public deserves to know how you are getting on, so it is right that you will have to show progress. I am sure you will agree.”

The Banbury MP then went on to say the council needed to act swiftly to resolve the pothole problem in the county and not throw away the funding.

He said: “You will have to up your game – we need to see many more potholes fixed this year than the one before. We need to see the potholes crisis ended.

“Don’t fail us and throw away our share of the additional £500m available to councils like Oxfordshire.

“There can be no excuses – the Labour government has provided the support you need – now you need to act.”

In response to the letter, Cllr Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport management, issued a statement stating that the Banbury MP should be working alongside the council instead of criticising local authorities.

Cllr Gant said: “The additional funds for highway maintenance are very welcome. It’s not “new” money, of course, simply a re-hash of a previous announcement, with added demands on hard-pressed council officers.

“More importantly, this goes only a tiny way towards addressing the huge gap between what is required to keep our highways in a state we would all want and the funding provided by both Tory and Labour governments over a period of decades.”

“Sean Woodcock MP repeats the usual mantra of criticising hard-working councils while systematically starving us of resource. Meanwhile this government apes the last by freezing fuel duty, piling ever more damaging vehicles onto our hard-pressed roads, at the same time as it penalises public transport by hiking the cap on bus fares, and rail travel gets ever more expensive.”

“I am proud of the work of Oxfordshire County Council staff and our contractors for the work they do, with wholly inadequate resource, to keep our highways in a steady state of repair, unlike the last Tory administration which adopted a policy of ‘managed decline’.

“Instead of trying to deflect attention from the failure of his government to fund councils properly, Mr Woodcock should be offering to work with us to get government to take a bold look at how our highway network is used, funded and maintained.”