Reform blamed for drop in pothole repairs in Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Council’s Reform UK leaders have been criticised following a drop in the number of pothole repairs since their election victory.
The county council filled in 17,826 potholes on Staffordshire’s roads between May and October, compared to 21,013 over the same period in 2024 – a 15.1 per cent fall.
Political opponents say this reduction has come despite good weather over the summer and extra highways funding from the government.
They blame the Reform administration’s decision to introduce new restrictions on town centre roadworks earlier this year.
But council leaders insist they have been following the repairs plan and budget they inherited from the previous Conservative administration.
They also say they are working to completely change the way the council approaches highway repairs to ensure a better service in the long-term.
In the summer the county council announced a three-month freeze on new non-essential roadworks in several urban areas, following major traffic problems in Stafford town centre.
But Councillor Simon Tagg, Conservative shadow cabinet member for strategic highways, believes this has contributed to the reduction in pothole repairs.
He said: “We warned the new Reform administration about the risks of stopping urban town centre roadworks this summer and now we can all see the results.
“They have wasted some of the best summer and autumn weather in years when they could have made major improvements to our roads, because of their failure, Staffordshire roads are in much worse state than they should be as the winter weather hits.”
Newcastle-under-Lyme’s Labour MP Adam Jogee believes that highways maintenance in Staffordshire should have improved this year following a £10.5 million increase in government funding allocated to the county’s road network.
He said: “Reform took charge promising better results for Staffordshire – but the reality is a failure to deliver, even with increased support and a major uplift in funding from government.
The government has put serious investment into repairing our roads, yet residents are being left with more potholes and lower standards.
“People are entitled to ask why performance has gone backwards and what has happened to the funding that was meant to improve matters.”
Reform won a landslide victory in the county council elections on May 1, with the party formally taking control of the authority later that month.
Council figures show that the number of pothole repairs carried out in May was already well down on the previous year – 2,638 compared to 3,153. But in September the difference was even more stark – 2,498 repairs in 2025 compared to 3,890 in the previous year.
Councillor Peter Mason, cabinet member for strategic highways, said the new approach being taken by the Reform administration will lead to better roads for Staffordshire’s drivers. He said: “We have followed the repair plans and budget that had already been set prior to the elections in May.
“Since May, we have been working on completely changing the approach to repairs to ensure we can improve roads for the long term and, crucially, keep Staffordshire moving so our residents are not being hindered by a multitude of roadworks.
"Our new approach means residents can look forward to better roads, long-lasting quality repairs rather than quick fixes, and maintenance works that are carefully planned and coordinated to ensure we keep the county moving. We want to ensure the repairs done to our network benefit our residents for years to come and make no apologies for taking the time to get this right.”
