I realise that Councillor Fielding has only recently found Breightmet from Oldham. It is perhaps for that reason he is not aware of Labour’s disgraceful record on tackling pothole repairs in the ward.

Perhaps I might be permitted to offer him a few facts. In the last three years under the previous Labour council up to 2019 Breightmet was allocated just £9,600 a year for pothole repairs. At the budget meeting in February 2019 Labour councillors voted against a Conservative proposal to spend an additional £100,000 in Breightmet and every other ward in just one year. An extra £2 million across Bolton

When in May 2019 the Conservative-led council introduced the fair funding policy and the allocation was raised to £600,000 for every ward, £6 million across Bolton, again Labour councillors failed to support this approach

Finally as your report rightly highlights Breightmet was allocated £50,000 in the Conservative budget for this year.

Yet again Labour councillors did not support this fair funding but despite their failure to support it, repairs in the current year will be from the Conservative fair funding policy.

Finally I note that Labour’s election manifesto on which Councillor Fielding and other Labour councillors were elected was to end the Conservative policy of fair funding. What will be the consequences of that I wonder?

We all accept that more needs to be done and the Government recently announced additional funding of over £6 million for pothole repairs across Greater Manchester. I can only hope that Bolton receives its fair share and that Labour then share any allocation fairly across ALL 20 wards and not just Labour’s previous chosen few.

Councillor John Walsh OBE

Conservative Highways Spokesman