Personally Speaking: 'Keep up the pressure for improved roads on National Pothole Day'

My Personally Speaking column in The Sentinel (15 January 2026)

If you want to understand how people really feel about the state of our roads, you don’t need a technical report – you just need to listen.

In emails, at advice surgeries and in conversations around Newcastle-under-Lyme, the same frustrations come up time and again: potholes left unaddressed, uneven surfaces, and repairs that don’t seem to last very long if they happen at all.

That everyday experience now has an official marker.

In the first ever national assessment of how well councils maintain their roads, Staffordshire County Council has been given an ‘amber’ rating.

The assessment looks at the condition of roads, how effectively funding is being used, and whether councils are following best practice to deliver long-term improvements.

For local people in Newcastle-under-Lyme who use our roads, this rating is no surprise. An amber rating is not a technical footnote – it is a clear signal that the current approach is falling short of what people expect and deserve.

What makes this rating particularly important is the position that Staffordshire County Council is now in.

With long-term funding settlements from this Labour government now in place, it has greater certainty to plan ahead and invest in preventive maintenance rather than relying on short-term fixes.

In Staffordshire’s case, the scale of that funding is significant.

The county council is set to receive more than £201.85 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30, including £54.8 million in additional incentive funding.

This investment is intended to support longer-lasting repairs and better upkeep of the road network. With that level of public money available, expectations – yours and mine – about delivery are rightly high.

And following the county council’s proposed near-4% council tax rise, people quite reasonably expect to see that investment to be translated into real, visible and safe improvements on the roads we use every day.

People judge success in simple, practical terms: whether journeys feel smoother, whether repairs last, and whether the same roads keep appearing on lists of complaints month after month – and it is clear that this standard is not being met.

I have raised concerns about the condition of our roads in Newcastle-under-Lyme repeatedly with Staffordshire County Council.

As our Member of Parliament, my role is to hold them to account, scrutinise their performance, and speak up for you when things are not good enough – and I will continue to do so.

Alongside that scrutiny, I also want to make sure residents have a direct way to be heard.

Today – National Pothole Day – is a timely moment to do that, which is why I am launching my Great Potholes Survey 2026, building on the survey I first ran last year. The aim is straightforward: to hear directly from residents about the potholes and problem roads causing the most disruption across Newcastle-under-Lyme, and to use that evidence to push for action.

Too often, people feel that reporting potholes leads nowhere. This survey allows me to build a clear local picture and raise those concerns persistently with the county council, backed by the real experiences of people who use these roads every day.

If the condition of our roads affects you – whether through damage to your vehicle, safety concerns, or the frustration of repeated disruption – I would encourage you to take part at www.adamjogee.com/potholes. Every response strengthens the case for improvement.

The amber rating has put Staffordshire’s roads firmly under the spotlight.

With substantial public funding now in place, you are entitled to expect better.

I will continue to press Staffordshire County Council for action until safer, smoother roads in Newcastle-under-Lyme become the norm rather than the exception.