'Rude' councillors told to thank the highways team

The ‘mixed economy model’, which involves some maintenance work being carried out in-house and larger-scale work being done by Kier Transportation, saw the council win both ‘Team of the Year’ and the ‘Collaborative Partnership Award’ at the Department for Transport Special Recognition awards.

Latest figures show that the average cost to Shropshire Council of repairing a pothole has fallen by 66% in the past four years – below the national average – and there has been a big fall in the number of defects on A and B roads.

Kier will continue to be the council’s contractor until at least 2026 following Cabinet approval on Wednesday (November 20), with spending with the firm forecast to be 50% less in 2024/25 than the previous year.

However, leaders of the Liberal Democrats and Labour groups criticised the extension.

“Residents, over many years, have complained about our roads and potholes,” said Councillor Roger Evans (Lib Dem). “There must have been alternatives that the council could have used, but the present doesn’t seem to deliver any extra value.”

Councillor Rosemary Dartnall (Lab) added: “We’re told that the net increase in costs could be £114,000, but we’re then told that could be mitigated by reducing the service and reducing the amount of work in the contract. So the overheads go up in price.

“While all areas of the council are struggling to survive to the point of collapse, the highways contract’s renewal for a further year means reducing the service to Shropshire residents to pay more money to Kier.

“So once again, Shropshire residents are expected to pay the cost of this Conservative administration’s inability to change in the face of financial crisis.

”In response, Councillor Dan Morris, portfolio holder for highways, said: “At the start of this meeting, quite rightly, we congratulated some team members for awards and we all stood and said there was nothing political about this – we would just congratulate good practice.

“I note that neither leaders of the Liberal Democrat or Labour groups have had the decency or the courtesy to say thank you or congratulate best practice of our highways team. Presumably, both have aspirations to lead the council when it comes to 2025 in the elections. If that is the case, I suggest you both give credit where credit’s due to what the team has managed to achieve.

“We’ve taken £15 million out of the budget and are short of £14 million to spend on the roads. But yet, we’ve delivered 66% of reductions in cost of repairs. I think it’s completely outrageous, disingenuous and quite frankly rude that the leaders of the opposition don’t have the courtesy to congratulate what they have achieved.” 

Responding to the criticism, both Councillor Evans and Councillor Dartnall said their respective groups appreciated the work staff at the council do.  

“What we are criticising is the contract and how it is managed and delivered,” said Councillor Evans.