The current and former leaders of Swansea Council have clashed over investment in the city's winter-battered roads, with the latter saying there are millions of pounds sitting in a pot which could have been used. Ex-leader, Cllr Chris Holley, of the Liberal Democrats, said Swansea Labour had taken money from the revenue budget, which he said could be used for road repairs, to repay borrowing costs for big city centre projects. He said the pot of money - called the capital equalisation reserve - currently stood at around £14 million.
Labour leader, Cllr Rob Stewart, said the equalisation reserve was necessary because the council had to borrow in order to match significant UK and Welsh Government investment in city centre regeneration projects, which otherwise wouldn't be taking place. Speaking at a meeting of full council, he also said the council would spend more money on Swansea's roads if it received more cash in the form of capital grants from central Government.
Cllr Holley said the equalisation reserve was being used "to mask the amount of money that the borrowing is going to cost". He said there should be more funding for roads from central Government but, addressing Labour, said: "You should not start crying about lack of money when you took it out yourselves, and I think you should seriously consider what you do in the future.
