The York Council has been asked to reveal how many reports of problems with defective roads and footpaths it is receiving each month. The request for the publication of information comes in the wake of a Freedom of Information response which revealed that the Council believed that “5% of roads in the City require resurfacing”.

The new Council announced that it was increasing the amount available for maintenance by around £1 million this year.  So far no list of streets that might benefit has been published.

The background to the initiative is the absence of performance information which should be (but isn’t)  routinely published by the Council. Even scrutiny committees seem reluctant to monitor the number of defects that are being reported and the length of time taken to address issues.

This applies across a wide range of public services in the City.

What is clear is that the cuts on highways expenditure agreed by the last Labour Council have had a major impact on service quality.