A Lancaster county councillor has fired back at the MP over potholes saying she'd "made a fool of herself" during Prime Minister's Questions.
County Councillor Martyn Sutton of Reform UK released a video statement on his Facebook page on Wednesday calling Ms Smith's recent remarks in Westminster about the state of local roads "bizarre pantomime".
This came after Ms Smith, Labour MP for Lancaster & Wyre, slammed the Reform UK-led Lancashire County Council - who are in charge of highways across the county - during the weekly questions by MPs to Sir Keir Starmer in the House of Commons on March 25.
Residents continue to complain about the large number of potholes across the Lancaster and Morecambe District.
Ms Smith said: "I would like to thank the Prime Minister for the £47m that this government have given to Lancashire County Council to repair potholes.
"However, my constituents still feel like they need a moon buggy to navigate the streets of Lancashire, so would he agree that the Reform councillors of Lancashire County Council are clearly wired to the moon if they think they are making effective use of this £47m?"
Sir Keir replied: "Can I extend my sympathy to residents in Lancashire who are being utterly failed by their Reform county council? It is the same picture across the country.
"It is a warning to the whole country: Reform has nothing to offer but chaos, grievance and division."
In his statement, County Councillor Sutton said: "It's been almost a week since Cat Smith made a fool of herself in Prime Minister's Questions, following the equally hapless response from the leader of our country.
"Unlike Cat I've done my homework, which is why it's taken me so long to respond to the wild accusations she made in Parliament.
"The one thing she nearly got right was that the government did indeed put £46,824,000 into the Highways Repair budget for 2025/26, that made a total of £61m in the Highways Budget set by the previous (Conservative) administration.
"They've also agreed to give £48.5m contribution to the budget of £72m that we've just set for 2026/27. Strange that they would do that if they were so disappointed and unhappy with what had happened to the nearly £47m that they gave for this year.
County Councillor Martyn Sutton
"Cat Smith has been MP for over 10 years and she doesn't seem to know anything about how this works. She doesn't know that the money is not ringfenced for potholes and she doesn't know that the money isn't one lump sum put into our account for us to spend on whatever we want.
"The money that comes from the government is a contribution towards the maintenance of 4372 miles of carriageways, 4864 miles of footways and cycle ways, 294,000 gulleys, 163,000 street lights, 700 traffic signals and crossings, and 1832 bridges.
"We receive the payments quarterly in arrears against an agreed programme of work. So far we have received three quarterly payments this year, so the last payment we received was in January. So three quarters of a million has been paid out because they have been satisfied that we have followed the agreed programme of work.
"The final payment for this year is due at the end of this month. If the Treasury make that payment, then what was all that about in Prime Minister's Questions last week, apart from a bit of political theatre from someone who doesn't know what she's doing?"
Ms Smith, in response, told Beyond Radio today:
“I’d like to thank Councillor Sutton for confirming that the council received the money I said the Labour government had given Lancashire for road repairs.
"I was pleased that he also added the information about the £2m additional this coming financial year, in comparison to 2025/26.
"During Prime Minister’s Questions, my time was limited, so I didn’t get a chance to spell out the Government’s historic investment in Lancashire’s roads, so I am grateful that Councillor Sutton was able to add that.
“I welcome the nearly £47m this Labour Government has provided for highways maintenance, but the Reform-run Lancashire County Council need to start fixing the potholes!
"From potholes to cuts to social care and raising council tax, Reform-led Lancashire County Council are letting people down.”
You can report a pothole HERE or via the Love Clean Streets app.
Read more: Lancaster MP attacks Reform over state of roads during Prime Minister's Questions - Beyond Radio
"1600 potholes repaired last week" says councillor as roads debate rumbles on - Beyond Radio
LISTEN: We go out on Pothole Patrol in Morecambe - Beyond Radio
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