'Significant progress' being made in pothole repairs claims Reform council as Tory opposition say fewer defects being fixed

At North Northamptonshire Council’s full council last week, the Reform administration that swept to victory in May 2025 said they have made ‘significant progress’ in improving the condition of North Northamptonshire’s highway network.

Cllr Chris McGiffen, NNC executive member for highways, in response to a written question to opposition counterpart Cllr Jon Humberstone (Con/Oundle) said the authority under Reform UK had made ‘significant progress’ in improving the condition of North Northamptonshire’s highway network.

But Cllr Humberstone has said ‘local people feel let down’ by the lack of progress ‘not delivering’ on their election commitment to ‘fix all the potholes’ with their figures showing a 0.55 per cent reduction of road defects.

Cllr Jon Humberstone, Conservative shadow portfolio holder for highways (Oundle ward), said: “It’s hugely disappointing to see fewer potholes fixed, despite large additional central government funding for Highways. Many local people feel let down and the Conservative opposition group will keep applying pressure to fix the quality of our roads.

“The cold winter months will naturally create more problems with our roads which will add to the backlog. It’s important for public confidence to see election promises kept, especially in terms of potholes in our rural towns and villages.”

In July 2025, NNC’s contractor Kier promised the £7.7m Local Transport Grant for 2025/26 would be used to provide a ‘high standard’ service, delivered ‘efficiently’.

It was announced that £5.095m would be spent on carriageway resurfacing works to patch up potholes as well as bridge deck repairs near Irthlingborough and Earls Barton, the installation of CCTV enforcement cameras in Kettering and Corby, closure of a fly-tipping hotspot and traffic calming outside Corby tip.

Funding was also to be used for the Weekley section of the Ise Valley Greenway near Kettering, a new pedestrian crossing across the A509 at Wilby and replacement of vehicle activated safety signs across the area.

Figures collated by Kier, that has the contract to mend the authority’s roads, revealed from May 2025 to the end of October, the new administration fixed an average of 1,460 road defects per month, compared with 1,468 per month in the previous quarter – a 0.55 per cent reduction in repairs.

Cllr McGiffen was asked for the latest update on road repairs and resurfacing since Reform took control of NNC.

He said: “Since the administration took control in May 2025, we have made significant progress in improving the condition of North Northamptonshire’s highway network.

“To date, the council has completed almost 9,000 m² of resurfacing works, alongside delivering the summer surface dressing programme, which covered over 95,000 m² of our roads.

“In addition to these major works, we have undertaken a substantial amount of patching and pothole repair activity, both reactive and preventative. This includes over 7,000 individual carriageway repairs, amounting to nearly 14,000 m² of improvements across the network.

“It is important to note that this year’s programme is still ongoing.

“Further work is planned for the New Year, and we will also start preparatory work for next year’s programme, which will see a substantial increase in surface dressing activity to build on the progress we’ve already made.”

According to the reporting website Fix My Street, 1,764 ‘open’ reports of potholes have been made to NNC.

The oldest ‘open’ report of deteriorating surface in Furnace Lane, Hill Top near Little Harrowden, was made at 9.32am on August 31, 2023 and the report sent to NNC ‘8 months, 1 week, 4 days, 1 hour, 59 minutes later’.

To report a pothole or other issues affecting highways or pavements including road markings or broken kerbs go to https://highways.northnorthants.gov.uk/