Harrow Council is under growing pressure to deliver on road repairs as the Labour Government sets strict conditions for accessing a share of £500 million in national funding for pothole and resurfacing works.
The new funding, announced as part of a £1.6 billion package for highway maintenance, aims to address years of wear and tear on roads across England. However, councils must now meet clear expectations to receive the full allocation. These include publishing annual reports, demonstrating public confidence, and showing measurable progress—or risk losing 25% of their funding uplift.
In Harrow’s case, that could mean forfeiting part of a £7.5 million uplift unless targets are met.
From mid-April, councils will start receiving payments, but failure to comply with the new rules will see withheld funds reallocated to other local authorities.
Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr David Perry, welcomed the measures. He said:
“I and my fellow Labour Councillors welcome this news that the funding set out by the government last year to tackle the pothole crisis growing in Harrow will be subject to strict conditions, ensuring accountability and delivery for our residents.
“For 14 years, we watched our money being wasted by the Conservatives, so residents are relieved that there will be clear accountability as part of this new funding. I therefore demand that Harrow Council does all it can to sort out the local pothole epidemic – and secure additional support from the Labour Government to get on top of the problem after years of neglect under the Conservatives.”
Responding to the announcement, Cllr David Ashton, Harrow’s Cabinet Member for Finance & Highways, said the Council was already ahead of the curve and criticised Labour’s past performance.
He said: “We always welcome extra funding for Harrow Council particularly if it will allow us to increase the number of road repairs. We also welcome the government’s scrutiny of our road repair performance.
“It is just a shame that Harrow’s Labour Councillors did not scrutinise the performance of the Council’s Highways Department during their last term running the Council between 2018 and 2022, when £2 million of taxpayers’ money went missing due to fraud under their watch.
“Regardless of extra funding from the government, Harrow’s Conservative-run Council has already considerably boosted money for road repairs and resurfacing to record levels.
“We are increasing funding for road repairs to £9.4 million in both 2023 and 2024. And we have budgeted £14 million per year for 2025, 2026 and 2027.
“This represents a £42 million investment in our road infrastructure over the next 3 years, which is vastly greater than what Harrow Labour spent on our roads between 2018 to 2022. It is ironic that Harrow Labour are talking about road investment when only a few weeks ago they voted against our £42 million funding boost.
“Furthermore, during Harrow Labour’s last year of power, they only spent £1.1 million on our roads.
“Due to local Labour Councillors inaction and chronic underinvestment from 2018 to 2022, we inherited roads which were literally falling apart. Ever since we have been playing catch up to clear up their mess. Frustratingly, repairs and upgrades to road infrastructure is never a speedy process and so it will take us many years to clear the backlog.
“Whatever funding boosts the Council receives from central government, Harrow Labour’s past record clearly shows that they are impotent when it comes to maintaining and repairing our boroughs roads.
“Harrow Conservatives are making progress and our significant increase in funding for road maintenance will mean that resident’s will see a big improvement over the next year. We are focused on the priorities of local people and will continue to put residents first.”
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
Harrow Online reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each month and has a social media audience of more than 200,000 followers.
For news tips, press releases or enquiries, contact Chris at info@harrowonline.org.
