OPPOSITION councillors are calling on a cabinet member to resign over the “general failure” of the highways department and contractors to deal with “the growing number of potholes”.

In a motion, due to be debated at a full session of Shropshire Council next week, Liberal Democrat group leader Roger Evans says “it used to be the norm” that the buck stopped with the political head of a failing department, and asks Steve Davenport to step down.

Cllr Davenport, who holds the highways and transport portfolio in the Conservative administration, said he was not going to resign, and said he recognised the council would have to “do more with less”, with £15 million gone from his budget over three years.

He added that the consultant, hired by the council to look at the whole transport system, was making changes likely to save “millions of pounds” in the long run and most of his fees came out of the underspent Highways department wage bill.

The motion, submitted by Liberal Democrat group leader Roger Evans and supported by his party colleagues, says: “Council notes that, during the whole of 2019, councillors have been raising issues about the growing number of potholes and the general failure of Shropshire Highways and its contractors, Kier and WSP, to deal with these issues.

“When a department fails it used to be the norm that the political person answerable for that department resigns.

“Despite many assurances, many from Cllr Davenport himself, the council has felt the need to appoint a consultant to tell them what was going wrong.”

Shropshire Council’s communications department has confirmed the authority has appointed a consultant to “review the entire highways service” and “provide advice on how to make crucial improvements based on his experience of running very successful highways operations elsewhere”.

The cost, including recruitment fees, travel and living expenses, totals £1,000 a day, a rate described as “comparable with usual consultant rates” and the same as other councils have been charged.

Cllr Davenport said: “We haven’t even spent much more money. The budget for the consultant has come out of the underspent wage bill of the highways department.”

He said the consultant’s advice was “going to potentially save millions of pounds” in the long run.

“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s not having persuaded the directors to do this two years ago.”

He added that he had successfully lobbied the Department for Transport to contribute £54m to the planned Northwest Relief Road.

“I’ve got a history of persuading the government to take an interest in Shropshire and getting the largest investment here.”