Figures revealed following an investigation by the Liberal Democrats show that Herts County Council’s main highways contractor Ringway has been ‘fined’ or issued penalties that total £1,074,052 between October 2012 and April 2016. During that time Ringway has received £158m in council tax payers’ money to undertake road repairs, maintenance and road safety work.
Steve Jarvis said “Fines or deductions of a million pounds for failing to carry out work is a lot of money. This includes strict penalties for not dealing with emergency repairs in time. Whilst there have been some improvements in performance in the last year, Ringway was still fined over £275,000 in 2015/16.”
Now the Conservatives running the Council have changed the rules to allow Ringway to take even longer to carry out basic repairs. Earlier this year the Conservatives voted down Liberal Democrat proposals for changes in the way highways works were undertaken and rejected an all-party review of the way work is carried out.
Steve Jarvis added “Fining Ringway is all well and good but surely the work should be done correctly and on time. Financial penalties do not take into account the inconvenience and upset caused to residents and it’s time we overhauled the whole system to get a better deal for Hertfordshire residents and better value for money.”