THE Chancellor has been accused of breaking promises after slashing pothole funding in his own constituency whilst allegedly shelling out hundreds of thousands of pounds on the driveway on a Tory peer’s £15m Tudor estate.

Labour has accused Rishi Sunak and other ministers of 'quietly slashing funding across the country', including in his Richmond constituency, after answers revealed in a parliamentary question show the Chancellor cut pothole funding in North Yorkshire by 25 per cent.

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At the same time, the Tories reportedly shelled out £330k of taxpayers money on the driveway on a Tory peer’s £15m Tudor estate say Labour.

The Chancellor was also called out by Labour after he told motorists last year to “enjoy National Pothole Day before they’re all gone” while “slashing” the road maintenance budget for local councils by a £400m.

It comes as it was revealed earlier this week that North Yorkshire was the worst local authority in the region to deal with road hazards, including potholes, according to data from Fill That Hole.

Based on the data, North Yorkshire not only receives the most road hazard reports, but according to the website, they are also the worst at fixing them with just 21 per cent of reported hazards fixed.

North Yorkshire currently has 2,365 reported hazards with 1,835 of them still being open and yet to be fixed.

Analysis from the party show Government funding for potholes across the country has dropped by an average of 23 per cent over the last 12 months. 

Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh MP explained that communities across the country, including North Yorkshire, are "paying the price for these broken promises.”

She added: “While the Tories dished out money to resurface the driveway of a Tory Peer’s estate, they were slashing funding to fix crumbling roads the rest of us rely on.

“Only last year the Chancellor vowed to make potholes a thing of the past – and then quietly slashed the budget by £400m, enough to fill 12 million potholes.

“Labour’s contract with the British people will mean rebuilding the infrastructure our communities depend on – and fixing the Tory mess on our roads.”

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In response, the Department of Transport said that the Government was spending enough money to fill “millions of potholes.”

A spokesperson added: “The Government is providing more than £5 billion of investment over 2020-2025 for highways maintenance to local highways authorities across England.

“This is enough to fill millions of potholes a year, repair dozens of bridges, and resurface roads up and down the country.”

According to Labour’s data the North East has seen Government funding specifically for potholes cut by 22 per cent and 28 per cent for Yorkshire and The Humber.

Last year the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey revealed that it would take 11 years to clear the maintenance backlog if local authorities had the funding and resources available to do the work.

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Speaking earlier this week, Nigel Smith, Head of Highway Operations at North Yorkshire County Council stressed that the county was England’s largest county with 5,753 miles of roads.

He added: “Our teams work hard throughout the year to maintain a safe, efficient road network.

“Keeping our roads in the best condition for the money that we have available is one of our biggest priorities, as well as challenges we face.

“We have an annual highways maintenance budget of around £55 million which covers planned maintenance programmes as well as responding to problems as they arise.

“Our aim is to maximise the amount of planned maintenance work whilst ensuring safety by fixing potholes or other defects.

“All reported potholes are inspected and, if necessary, repaired promptly based on the level of risk to road users.

“It’s important to remember that repairing potholes is only one part of our wider programme of road maintenance works.

“We encourage members of the public to report potholes or other highway faults using our online reporting system at www.northyorks.gov.uk/potholes-and-road-condition-issues."

The Northern Echo contacted the Treasury for a comment, however, they did not comment.

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