Suffolk County Council: Opposition calls for road maintenance to move in-house

Opposition councillors at Suffolk County Council said contractor prices were "astronomical"

Opposition councillors have called for road maintenance in Suffolk to be brought back in-house to combat "astronomical prices".

A petition has been created by the Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent group (GLDI) to create a maintenance team at Suffolk County Council.

The group said it would help control costs and offer better value for money.

However, the Conservative administration said it was not possible and could drive up prices.

The GLDI said it had been quoted "significant fees" when looking at the price of works.

Among examples quoted were £5,000 for a pair of dropped kerbs, £7,500 to cut down one tree and £10,000 to design four humps in a road, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council's deal with construction and infrastructure services company Kier is due to end in October 2023.

New contracts worth more than £1bn for another 20 years are being procured by the council.

It is planning one main maintenance contract, with a separate smaller contract specific to street lighting and traffic lights.

'Call for action'

Keith Welham, the GLDI group spokesman for highways, said: "We have created this petition to give residents the chance to join us in calling for action to fix some of these astronomical prices we have seen given for simple maintenance jobs in Suffolk.

"We want to create a fairer system and a well-maintained network of Suffolk highways, and an in-house bid is one step to supporting this."

However, the Conservative administration said in-house maintenance would "not be viable".

Paul West, cabinet member for Ipswich, operational highways and flooding, said there would be "the burden of tens of millions of pounds in upfront capital costs associated with vehicles, machinery and traffic management", as well as ongoing costs for maintenance.

"External contractors have far greater buying power, industry standard skillsets and better knowledge of the new and emerging innovation and technology," Mr West said.

"We strive to deliver excellent value for money for Suffolk's residents, and highways is no exception."

He said the council would find the "most suitable, competitive and reliable contractors" for new highways contracts next year.