Spending on tackling potholes has fallen dramatically in parts of Warwickshire under the Reform UK-led county council, despite a significant increase in funding from the Labour government.
With just two weeks to go until the end of the financial year, figures released by Warwickshire County Council reveal steep cuts to spending on potholes in Warwickshire’s two northern boroughs.
Pothole spending in North Warwickshire borough has dropped by more than 50% since Reform UK took control in 2025. In neighbouring Nuneaton & Bedworth, spending has also fallen sharply, down 39% compared to the previous year.
In total, the two northern boroughs have seen a £1.9 million reduction in pothole repair spending since Reform UK took charge of the council in May 2025 — barely more than half what they received in 2024/25.
The collapse in spending on essential pothole repairs comes despite Warwickshire receiving more than £7 million in additional funding from the Labour government in 2025/26 to tackle potholes – a whopping 40% increase in funding.
Across the county as a whole, spending on pothole repairs was down 11.4% compared to last year, with only two weeks remaining in the financial year.
Rachel Taylor MP (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) said the figures showed the Reform UK council wasn’t just failing under the leadership of Cllr George Finch, but that it had all but abandoned road users in the north of the county.
She said:
“Labour delivered millions in extra funding last year to fix Warwickshire’s pothole problem, but this bungling Reform council has somehow managed to spend less on repairing our roads this year than the year before they took over.
“Every time I speak to residents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth they complain about the state of the roads and dangerous potholes. Schoolchildren even pick this as the most important issue to address in the area as their parents are swerving to miss the craters whilst they sit in the back of the car.
“Drivers and cyclists in North Warwickshire and Bedworth will be particularly furious to learn that pothole funding in the north of the county has collapsed by nearly half since Reform took control.
“Reform UK’s 19-year-old council leader in Warwickshire, George Finch, keeps saying voters should judge him on his ability – not his age.. After a year of resignations, tax hikes, and now this shambolic management of our roads, he urgently needs to get a grip of a council that is completely failing under his leadership.”
Warwickshire was rated “amber” (or “requires improvement”) by the Department for Transport’s traffic light system for road maintenance performance in 2024/25, prior to Reform taking control of the council. These figures suggest a downgrade to ‘red’ may be on the cards.
In 2025/26 the Labour government also introduced an incentive scheme for council pothole funding, with only those councils who spent the ‘baseline’ funding able to access further funding for fixing local roads.
The Reform council’s failure to even match the previous years’ spending on pothole maintenance in Warwickshire – let alone exceed it – suggests they are on course to squander the opportunity to access millions of pounds in additional road maintenance funding, with Warwickshire road users ultimately paying the price for that failure.