Communities “left in the dark” by faulty street lights taking over 3.5 years to fix

• Streetlight in Cheshire East took 1306 days to fix after first report

• Concerns over women’s safety in areas without adequate lighting

• Lib Dems call for a ‘Safe Streets Guarantee’ to end “safety sweepstake” and enable quick repairs to broken lights 

New data revealing broken streetlights are taking over 3.5 years to fix has raised safety concerns for local communities. 

A Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats has unveiled the staggering delays to fix faulty street lights as some councils are taking an average of 107 days to complete repairs, with some individual streetlights left dark for up to 1,306 days. 

The Liberal Democrats have spoken out over safety in local communities left without adequate lighting, with fears this could lead to an increase in crime and have dangerous implications for individuals walking home alone - particularly women. 

The party has criticised the Government for creating a “safety sweepstake” with the ‘Safer Streets Fund’ by requiring police forces and local councils to bid for funding while local authority budgets have been cut by over 2.3 million (12%) since 2016/17.

Out of the 58 councils that provided data, Cheshire East took the longest time to fix a broken streetlight after it had been reported, with an astounding delay of 1306 days - that’s over 3.5 years. Bristol City Council took the second longest, with one light left broken for 702 days - nearly 2 years. 

The councils reported a total of 204,390 broken streetlights in 2022. Hampshire County Council was the worst affected with a shocking 29,975 faulty lights, followed by Surrey County Council with 13,789 and Staffordshire County Council with 13,763. 

Last year, it took Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 107 days on average to repair the 410 broken lights reported. Cheshire East took an average of 54 days to fix their 1284 lights. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a ‘Safe Streets Guarantee’ to ensure every local area has the funding needed to prevent crime and quickly repair broken streetlights. This would replace the current Safer Streets Fund under which councils are forced to bid for money.

The party also wants to see local authority cuts reversed and budgets fully restored so councils’ have the necessary funds to repair their broken streetlight backlogs.

Liberal Democrat Local Government spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

“This Conservative Government is leaving communities in the dark and risking individuals’ safety with their chronic underfunding. 

“Every streetlight left broken creates an opportunity for people to become a victim of crime. Yet the Government’s answer is a safety sweepstake where local areas are forced to compete for money. 

“Our Safe Streets Guarantee would give councils the funding they need to speedily repair faulty streetlights.

“Local authority budgets have been stripped back to the bone leaving too many unable to cover the basics. The Liberal Democrats want to see councils’ funding restored in full; we cannot wait until the lights are out for this Government before action is taken.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The Freedom of Information request was sent to 118 Councils, 58 provided data. 

Full FOI data available here.

Longest waits to fix broken streetlights in 2022:

House of Commons Library research on Council Settlement Funding from 2016/17 through to 2022/23 can be found here. 

Difference in Council funding from 2016/17 - 2022/23: