It was reported that the additional investment made by Labour Councillors of £24million to improve Rotherham’s roads was making a real improvement to the highway network and was evidenced by the improvement in the condition of the estate roads and classified network along with a continued reduction in the number of pot-holes reported and highways claims received against the Council.

The Highway Repair Programme for 2021/22 delivered repairs across 247 Maintenance Schemes, equating to 77.993km of roads and an area of 481,777 square metres. This year, 2022/23 we will do even more – 193 more roads.

It was also reported that the number of claims by motorists for damage to vehicles caused by potholes was significantly down and that the unclassified road network was better than the national average.

This local story is contrasted by how the Conservative Government have been reducing grants to Council’s for highways maintenance in recent years.

Cllr. Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment commented: “The contrast could not be clearer, a Labour Council investing in priorities that are important to local people and a Conservative Government doing the opposite. Now we have the proof that Rotherham’s roads are now better than the national average, this shows that Rotherham Labours’ plan to invest in the improvement of roads is working.”

The table above identifies a significant reduction in the number of actionable defects required to be repaired from 34,000 in 2014/15 to 19,417 in 2020/21. So far this year only 13,658 potholes have required repair, indicating a significant reduction in the number of reported potholes in 2021/22.