Lib Dems abandon city’s ‘postcode’ repair policy

28 July 2008

A controversial ‘postcode’ policy for repairing streetlights and filling in potholes is to be abandoned by the new Liberal Democrat administration at Sheffield City Council.

Plans to scrap the ‘postcode lottery’ and introduce a new ‘worst-first’ criteria were being put to a cabinet meeting this week and will almost certainly be given the go ahead.

Under the previous Labour administration, which lost control of the council in the May elections, a ‘Closing the gap’ policy was established to help bring struggling neighbourhoods up to the same standard as the rest of the city. This meant the city’s seven most-deprived areas were given priority in the queue for repairs.

Although the council stressed that priority was only given to deprived areas where the level of repairs needed was equal with more affluent areas, Liberal Democrat councillors claimed that, in practice, this meant the provision of basic services was ‘skewed’.

Councillor Sylvia Dunkley, cabinet member for streetscene, explained: ‘Under the previous administration’s policy, designated areas were awarded extra points when it came to deciding priority. ‘This was unfair and could have had serious consequences.

For example, faulty streetlights in an area with high night crime statistics could have been neglected because street lights in a “favoured area” were given a higher score.’

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Lib Dems abandon city’s ‘postcode’ repair policy

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