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# Labour councillor warns new funding for road improvements is nowhere near enough to tackle backlog of work
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/labour-councillor-warns-new-funding-for-road-improvements-is-nowhere-near-enough-to-tackle-backlog-of-work/
- Published: 2020-09-18T06:50:00.000Z
- Updated: 2020-09-18T06:50:14.000Z
- Description: A Labour councillor has warned a £2million plan to tackle issues on local roads will only scratch the surface of the problems.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Politics, Transport, News

A Labour councillor has warned a £2million plan to tackle issues on local roads will only scratch the surface of the problems.

Staffordshire County Council [unveiled the additional funding](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/additional-2million-to-tackle-problems-on-local-roads-is-approved-by-county-councils-cabinet/) to deal with problem drains, gully emptying and roadside grass cutting.

But Cllr Steve Norman, Labour group leader at Lichfield District Council, said the money was nowhere near enough.

![Cllr Steve Norman](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/norman-steve.jpg)

Cllr Steve Norman

> “The report said the current known workstack of drainage related issues is estimated to exceed £20million.  
>  
> “So the money for drainage is less than 10% of what is needed.”  
>  
> Cllr Steve Norman, Staffordshire County Council

Cllr Norman said more scrutiny of such spending plans were needed – and he urged the Conservative cabinet of Staffordshire County Council to follow the example of their Tory colleagues at Lichfield Dsitrict Council.

> “I have said within my group and elsewhere that the district council’s cabinet meetings does involve some scrutiny.  
>  
> “Members of the cabinet do ask real, sometimes difficult, questions of each other.  
>  
> “Either they are very good actors or, as I believe, they want to have answers to questions about reports being presented by a colleague.  
>  
> “Credit where it is due for our district members, but watching the Staffordshire Cabinet meeting was excruciating.  
>  
> “Not a single question was asked such as ‘if we have a backlog of over £20million of drainage repairs why are getting excited about a one-off expenditure of less than 10% of what is needed?’  
>  
> “Of course, you don’t embarrass your colleagues as you can raise issues privately beforehand, but there should be some transparent scrutiny of these big proposals.   
>  
> “There is no point in watching them as you learn nothing over and above what is in the reports themselves.”   
>  
> Cllr Steve Norman, Staffordshire County Council