The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has been surprised to discover that Oldham Council officers do not record the number of potholes that are reported, nor the number of potholes that are repaired.

Councillor Sykes has written to Helen Lockwood, Deputy Chief Executive – People at Place at Oldham to ask why?

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “This information was disclosed in answer to a Freedom of Information request.  I am very surprised that we do not collect this data as surely we need it to determine how effective our road repair work is?”

“Last November (2018), the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group brought a motion to the Council meeting seeking a commitment to the Council to repair potholes posing a hazard to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, including those of less than 40mm depth.  Although Labour watered this down to a more generic commitment, with no guarantee that these ‘surface erosion’ potholes would also be repaired, there was cross-party support that a pothole or eroded surface posing a public danger would be repaired as quickly as possible.”

“So how can we be sure that all hazardous potholes are promptly repaired when we record neither the number of potholes that are reported by the public, nor the number of potholes that are subsequently repaired? I am looking forward to receiving Ms. Lockwood’s reply.”