The common expression “catch-22” sums up perfectly the Council’s dilemma when it comes to repairing and maintaining roads. If we do nothing we are condemned for inaction, if we try to fix the roads – as we were doing in December – we are criticised because of diversion and delays.

We face the same dilemma when we respond to Freedom of Information requests. If we are completely honest, we may be criticised because the figures seem high. If we are not open, people accused us of excessive secrecy.

A good illustration of this happened when we replied to a request about how much money we need to spend on the backlog of repairing roads, including potholes.

The problem is that there is no agreed measure used by all local authorities to determine how much all this costs. To see that Swindon’s figure is £40m and Wiltshire’s is £50m tells you no more than if you were trying to compare three metres of string with a bag of apples. The fact about the repairs is that we need about £400,000 to deal with potholes. The reason the total figure we need is so much higher is that it also includes the amount we would want to use to repair footpaths as well as undertake wholesale road resurfacing work.

The underlying reason why the total figure is so high is two-fold. First, if you look at the way the town has expanded since the 1950s, we have whole neighbourhoods where developers built all the roads at the same time and have become obsolete together. Rather than having small, incremental amounts of work, this means we face higher concentrations of need in a short time.

Second, we are the beneficiaries of an active local economy. The more commuters and lorries there are, the greater the wear and tear on the roads, which increases the demand for repairs and maintenance.

Above all, this issue about the figures is a distraction from the real task of how we find the money to improve as well as enhance our roads. We will obtain some additional funding through the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Economic Partnership, but that will only cover a few new schemes. We have been borrowing money to support the grant we receive; however, there are limits here, if we are to be prudent.

The reality is that over the past few decades no government of whichever persuasion has properly addressed the real problem of how to pay for all the work we need to do on our roads, something that all councils – to a greater or lesser extent – know only too well.