Potholes, pavements, and highways

Bexley Labour group strongly support the campaign by Daniel Francis M.P for Bexleyheath and Crayford, to deliver better roads to his constituents and that Bexley Council spend the £895,000 given by the Labour government to deal with potholes in the financial year 2025/26. It should be noted that their government only gave £550,000 over the previous 5 years. At present the Conservative council have only spent 29% of this funding; residents across the borough want more action by the council to improve highways and pavements, not excuses.

Bexley’s own statistics on the condition of the councils’ highways show that the condition are in a worse condition than they were in 2020 and 2024 is the worst year reported in those statistics These figures show the failure of this council to get a grip on an issue that residents want more action on. In addition, this council has failed to invest in money in replacing whole pavement renewal instead just relying on a ‘patch and mend approach’ this leaves vulnerable people at risk to injury from falls.

Councillor Anna Day, (Shadow Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods) said.

‘We know from meeting thousands of residents across Bexley on the doorstep that one of their important issues is dealing with potholes and investing more in improving roads and pavements. Instead, all we have seen recently is Bexley Conservative Councillors churning out press releases and statements attacking Labour politicians who are holding this administration to account for their failure on this. Residents can’t afford to keep shelling out money to repair punctures and suspension on their vehicles, and don’t want to have to worry about their elderly relatives having a fall; they want action sooner rather than later on this important issue.’

Many residents have expressed concern at the state of the crumbling highways and pavements in Bexley, this is due to years of cuts in the road’s maintenance budget and inconsistent levels of capital investment, and a real issue has been years of cutting staffing levels that have really impacted on delivery of projects. Bexley Conservatives voted against the Labour group amendment in 2023/24 budget setting meeting to invest more money in our crumbling highways, this would have seen an extra £1/2m from monies already allocated from new housing developments in Bexley, invested in pavements and roads. In addition, the council wasted £147,000 on a court case against the ULEZ expansion, a case they were never going to win, Bexley Labour did not support this waste of taxpayers’ money, which Bexley Conservatives took out of the councils already depleted reserves.

Wild claims have been made that the Prime Minster would withdraw this funding, which is nonsense, and that ‘reporting these potholes has created a lot of work’ as reported in the Newshopper on the 30^th July 2025, the fact is many residents are frustrated that reports on the Fix My Street app are not dealt with quickly and residents want more action. On May 7^th, 2026, the local elections is Bexley residents’ chance to show that they have had enough of cuts and managed decline to services over 20 years and Bexley deserve better.

Below are tables showing information regarding spending and condition of the roads in Bexley, this is sourced from the Bexley Council website.

See terminology notes below for explanations for these column headings.

Capital funding

In accordance with national legislation, this funding may be used for the construction or improvement of fixed assets, like roads, which will be used for a notable period of time. This is used for works such as resurfacing and larger patches of surfacing.

Revenue funding

In accordance with national legislation, this funding covers day-to-day running costs of services such as routine maintenance. This is used for small repairs such as pothole treatments.

Preventative maintenance

This approach involves treating roads before major defects appear. It includes patching or resurfacing large areas or long sections of carriageways and footways to extend the life of the surface and reduce the likelihood of future problems.

While this may involve removing some road material that is still in usable condition, the benefits outweigh the waste by addressing surrounding or early-stage issues in one go.

These works are primarily funded by Bexley’s Capital budget and may also be supported by other sources, such as the DfT’s highway maintenance grants. Capital funding is used when a project can replace or significantly extend the life of the infrastructure, making it suitable for large patching and resurfacing works.

Reactive maintenance Reactive maintenance is used to fix defects such as potholes that have already formed. This approach focuses on small, localised areas and is generally quicker and less costly. However, it only addresses issues after they become large enough to require intervention.

Reactive works are funded entirely from Bexley’s Revenue budget, which is intended for minor and routine repairs, such as individual potholes. This funding is also used to address other highway defects, such as trip hazards and uneven footway paving.