Row about potholes reaches parliament

Daniel Francis spent the summer investigating Bexley's potholes

A council row about potholes has been escalated to parliament.

Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, Daniel Francis, said he visited every road in his constituency and reported all the potholes he found, to ensure Conservative-controlled Bexley Council was spending its budget repairing road defects.

During a Prime Minister's Question time (PMQs), Kier Starmer threatened to take away Bexley's £895,000 funding given by the Department of Transport.

In response, the council has written to the prime minister asking him to check his facts, claiming MP Daniel Francis provided him with misinformation.

Labour MP Daniel Francis has raised the issue in the House of Commons

'Use the money'

In the House of Commons, Mr Francis said: "The Conservative council cabinet member responsible for roads wrote to our local newspaper, News Shopper, asking that I stop reporting potholes because it was causing work for the council.

"Will the prime minister join me in urging my Conservative council to get on and spend that money to make roads, such as Mayplace Road East, safe to drive on?"

In response, the prime minister said: "So, this is a local Conservative council telling my honourable friend not to point out potholes in case it has to fill them. That is outrageous—just like the record of the last 14 years.

"We know how problematic, dangerous and costly potholes are to drivers. That is why we have delivered record investment to maintain our roads and fix potholes. That is £1.6bn. That money has been given to councils, but it comes with strings.

"My message to the council to reinforce that is clear: 'Use the money, fix the roads and show how you are carrying out repairs, or lose the money'.

"It is councils that should get on with the job of fixing our roads. I will make sure the Roads Minister follows up with my honourable friend."

The MP took photos of the potholes he encountered, this one from Abbotts Walk

Mr Francis later went on BBC Radio 5 Live and claimed Bexley Council had only spent £40,000 of the £895,000 in the first three months of this financial year.

Speaking to Matt Chorley, the MP said: "We have reported over 100 potholes. The council believes some of them don't meet the criteria [to be filled in]. I don't agree with that.

"I have created a measuring tool which is 20cm wide and I have also been measuring the depth. Some of them that they say don't meet the criteria, I disagree with and residents have been in touch with me to say they also disagree with."

'Outrageous'

Councillor David Leaf - who will become Bexley's new council leader next month -said he was "shocked and appalled" to hear what Mr Starmer had said in the House of Commons.

Councillor Leaf said: "I think that's outrageous and disgraceful, and it's appalling that the prime minister didn't check his facts... whatever the reason, it's unacceptable and we will very robustly defend our position and expect the prime minister to correct the record."

Cllr Richard Diment has disputed the claims made by MP Daniel Francis

Councillor Richard Diment, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and the man referred to by Mr Francis in the House of Commons, said the MP's comments were "outrageous" as they put Bexley's government funding at risk.

He added: "As we learned when he was a member of this council, Mr Francis is cavalier with the facts and deliberately misled the House of Commons yesterday."

A pothole on South Gipsy Road

Mr Diment said the MP reported over 150 potholes in just over a week. The council inspected every single one and found that only around a quarter of these met the criteria for action, and only nine met the criteria for immediate action.

He also disputed the MP's claims that Bexley had only spent £40,000 of the £895,000 annual fund, saying this figure referred to the amount of money that had been invoiced and paid for.

He said the council had actually spent £260,000 and had "every intention" to use the entire fund.