Recent data has revealed a big rise in pothole compensation ‘claims’ made to Newport Council - with less spent on repairing and resurfacing the roads.
THE QUESTIONS
Allt-yr-yn Conservative Councillor David Fouweather recently submitted a question to Newport Council asking how many compensation claims had been received by the council for highway defects? These
should include trips, injuries and falls and damage to vehicles (from 2020 to present).
Cllr Fouweather also asked how much money was spent on repairing and resurfacing the highways network?
CLAIMS AND PAY-OUTS
Newport Council revealed:-
2020: 26 claims received – 4 claims settled at a cost of £3,127.29
2021: 62 claims received - 16 claims settled at a cost of £5,255.56
2022: 83 claims received - 17 claims settled at a cost of £9,296.95
2023: 111 claims received - 37 claims settled at a cost of £11,765.18
2024: 24 claims received to date – 3 claims settled at a cost of £1,672.32
MONEY SPENT ON REPAIRING AND RESURFACING ROADS
The following amounts have been spent on repairing and resurfacing the
highways network:-
2016/17 - £1,022,757.35
2017/18 - £1,944,683.39
2018/19 - £2,138,930.64
2019/20 - £2,554,477.00
2020/21 - £1,933,351.00
2021/22 - £2,533,125.50
2022/23 - £1,990,712.00
The data from 2020 and 2021 would be heavily distorted due the lockdowns during pandemic i.e. there were less cars on the roads. We would expect to see a lower amount of claims.
However, the jump from 83 claims in 2022 to 111 claims in 2023 is somewhat concerning. The thorny issue of potholes and road surface damage has been bigger than ever this year.
Another questionable concern would be the drop-off on the money spent on repairing and resurfacing roads. £2.53 million was spent in 2021/22 although this dropped to £1.99 million in 2022/23. That’s over half-a-million pounds less spent on repairing the roads. The figure for 2023/24 was not revealed.
Conservative Councillor David Fouweather has said:-
“This year, more than any other, I’ve been inundated from residents complaining about potholes and road surface damage. It’s extremely frustrating, because the council are not focusing on our roads anywhere near as much as they should be.”
“The claims made stemming from damage to vehicles, injuries, etc has risen dramatically year-on-year over the past four to five years. We need to see a strategic plan which focuses on relaying our major road arteries around the city and then key roads running through residential areas. That would just be a start.”
