Express & Star

Fears over repair delays and job losses as Wolverhampton road budget faces £400k cut

Repairs could be delayed and jobs lost under plans to slash Wolverhampton's roads budget by £400,000.

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The city council is proposing to cut its roads maintenance budget from March under the latest round of cuts to services.

The authority needs to save £123 million and had previously planned to make the cuts to the roads budget in 2018/19 but has now decided to bring it forward by three years.

As part of this, the local authority has admitted there may be a reduction in the in the highways team.

In February, the council delivered the crushing news that 2,000 employees faced being axed as it attempted to meet the shortfall. Just six months earlier, the figure had been estimated to have been 1,000 employees.

In a report of its budget for 2015/16, the council highlights the effect of bringing forward its £400,000 cuts by three years.

It says: "The HR implications of this proposal represent some risk.

"The review of the service may lead to a reduction in the number of employees. Reductions in employee numbers will require fair and due process to be followed regarding consultation, selection and implementation of any compulsory redundancies."

In June, it was announced the city council would be awarded £500,000 of a £6.6 million funding to fix 9,000 potholes around the city.

The news also comes following a spike in repairs to potholes in Wolverhampton. According to figures from the authorit, it more than doubled from 137 in August to 340 in October.

Last month was also the second highest for pothole repairs after March (379).

The council's latest proposals have drawn criticism.

Councillor Wendy Thompson, leader of the Conservative opposition at the authority, said: "I don't know how they are going to do it. We have got to be able to use the roads and I would think if roads are not maintained then the claims against the council for damaged cars could go up.

"I am not sure how they are going to achieve £400,000 savings. If there is a pothole it should be fixed . There are services that residents want to see provided straight away."

Wolverhampton City Council was unavailable for comment.

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