West Sussex Labour Group call in decision on spending for potholes

The group says a total of 96 listings for Chichester, 14 for Worthing and 24 for Crawley looks wrong, but without more financial information it's impossible to judge.

Speaking about the report, Group Leader, Cllr Chris Oxlade (Bewbush & Ifield West) said: “The state of our roads and pavements is the number one issue raised with councillors on the doorstep. We can all see the problems - our roads are covered in pot holes, and it is getting worse which causes significant concern.

“Projects that appear on the capital program are meant to be prioritised on the basis of need alone, so that the spending is fair to all residents across the County. We are simply asking for more detailed evidence of that to be added to the document so that we can reassure our residents that they are not missing out.”

Deputy Leader, Caroline Baxter (Worthing East) added: “£45.9 million is a huge sum of money, but it is clear the problems we are seeking to address are now also huge. We also know that money is extremely tight, so it is really important that there is full transparency and clarity for West Sussex District and Borough Councils, Members and the public around the allocation of these precious and desperately needed resources.

“The outline costs for each project must be known otherwise this list might represent an entirely undeliverable proposal, so we are just asking for that information to be provided for us all to scrutinise and to ensure we are all fully consulted.”

Link to the Highways, Transport and Planning Delivery Program; https://westsussex.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s45569/Appendix%20A%20HTP%20Delivery%20Programme%202024-25.pdf

Call-In Request by the Labour Group of Highways, Transport & Planning Delivery Programme

Reasons for call in:

We consider that:

The highways capital program, (Delivery Program) as published recently, does not include sufficient information to enable Members or the public to assess how equitably the £45.9 million of funding is spent across the County.

Given the level of concern residents regularly bring to Members’ attention on this issue, the ability of this Council to provide clarity about the decision making to demonstrate the process is fair, objective and transparent, could not be more important.

Publishing approved schemes as a list does not allow any understanding of the investment being made and can give the appearance of significant disparity, for example, 14 listings for Worthing, 24 for Crawley and 96 for Chichester on the face of it may not look good.

The absence of any financial assessment, or even rating, makes it near impossible to understand or explain to residents how this represents parity.

It is not clear that all of these schemes have been subject to what could reasonably be described as a full consultation process as set out in point 4 of the Delivery Program Report.

It is absolutely essential to ensure the criteria on which these decisions are made is fully transparent, clearly objective, reasonably evenly divided financially and is delivering equally for residents across the entire county.

Whilst the report mentions that some local consultation has taken place, there has not been strategic consideration of the whole programme at a scrutiny committee.

Outcomes sought:

For a narrative on the criteria upon which schemes are prioritised to be published alongside the program, in an accessible manner that residents can understand.

For outline information on the consultation process for each project to be added.

For the report to deliver greater fiscal clarity for members and residents regarding how schemes are rated and how allocation decisions are made in respect of the financial assessment. Not necessarily with a full costing, but at least a rating or outline guide.

For the program to be reviewed (as set out in points 1-3 above) to ensure this Council can clearly demonstrate that it has fully objective criteria in place for the allocation of £45.9 million, and that said allocation can be shown to meet the demonstrable needs of our residents in a geographically balanced way.

Signed;

Cllr Caroline Baxter - Worthing East; Cllr Chris Oxlade - Bewbush & Ifield West; Cllr Alison Cornell - Langley Green & Ifield East; Cllr Dawn Smith - Broadwater; Cllr Natalie Pudaloff - Northgate & West Green; Cllr Brian Quinn - Broadfield