The £100 million renewal of Gloucestershire’s contract for fixing potholes has been blasted as a “Christmas present no one wants”. Gloucestershire County Council’s highway maintenance services are provided by Ringway.
Their current contract with the council began in April 2019 for a seven-year term expiring on March 31, 2026 and provided the council with an extension option. The contract extension will run for up to four years and is subject to performance related targets, such as measuring the speed of pothole repairs and the number of drains cleared.
Council bosses say the contract also builds in social value, ensuring that benefits from the investment are felt locally, and includes a commitment to continue enhancements and innovations to boost efficiency, performance and cost-effectiveness.
The average cost of highways maintenance in the county is just over £27 million per year and so the total value of the contract extension is expected to be over £100 million. But Liberal Democrat Lisa Spivey (South Cerney), who leads the opposition at Shire Hall, has criticised the decision.
She said: “Gloucestershire residents don’t believe that our roads have got better since Ringway took over the highways contract. Over the festive period residents will be visiting loved ones in neighbouring counties and discovering their roads are smoother and in better condition that ours.
“Gloucestershire’s Conservatives have given residents a Christmas present no one wants. A multi million pound contract to the company who have worked with our tired Conservative administration to allow our roads to crumble.”
She went on to say after 20 years of Conservative administration, the county’s roads are in a worse state than ever.
Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester
(Image: Carmelo Garcia)
“Liberal Democrats have been calling for a total overhaul of how we deliver highways maintenance, and that doesn’t include rewarding private companies who have failed to carry out good quality repairs. The County Council elections in May next year will give residents the chance to vote for change.
“Liberal Democrats will invest more in our highways, make sure contracts we sign with private companies work for residents and take a common sense approach to fixing our roads.”
Jason Humm, director of transport and highways said the council is delighted to continue working with Ringway Infrastructure Services. And they are looking forward to boosting innovation and achieving further transformation in highways services.
Last winter the council launched Fix My Street, a quick and easy way to report a wide range of issues, from pavements and potholes to street lights and blocked drains. Since then, more than 35,000 reports have been submitted. As well as being user friendly, the system brings benefits to the public by enabling the council to process queries more quickly and get on with the repairs.
New features have been added throughout the year. The council says it’s now easy to report problems with roadworks such as poor quality repairs by utility companies.
“With Fix My Street and investment in proactive pothole repairs and drain clearing we’re seeing improvements in operations that are creating better journeys for Gloucestershire and helping to tackle the worst that the weather can throw at us,” Mr Humm said.
Nick Goddard, regional director for Ringway infrastructure Services said the firm is delighted that Gloucestershire County Council has decided to extend their “highly successful” relationship and look forward to maintaining a sustainable and innovative highway maintenance service over the coming years.
“This award is testament to many years of hard work and collaboration, which we aim to continue for the benefit of the highway users and communities of Gloucestershire,” he said.
The council works in partnership with Ringway to address many of the issues reported. Together they have been testing new machines and methods for more efficient pothole repairs. This summer in the battle of the pothole repair machines a Spray Injection Patcher, JCB Pothole Pro, Roadmender and Bobcat were deployed in competition across the county. Since 1 April this year 40,506 potholes have been repaired.
Ringway also deliver proactive repairs, Find and Fix teams have fixed 24,031 smaller potholes before they develop into safety hazards. The Conservatives at Shire Hall have been approached for comment.