ANGER has been voiced at figures which show just a small percentage of the district's highways spending has gone to Keighley and Shipley.

According to data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, just £4.1 million was spent in Keighley in the six-year period to 2022 – equating to four per cent of the total.

That compares to £19.2m in Bradford East, £17.4m in Bradford West and £13.1m in Bradford South.

The statistics were obtained by MP Philip Davies, whose own Shipley constituency received just over £1.72m, or two per cent.

Both he and Keighley fellow Conservative MP Robbie Moore have criticised Bradford Council over the spending, which they claim is further evidence that the constituencies should 'break away' from the Labour-run local authority's control.

But the council says the figures were provided in response to a "specific and narrow" FOI request regarding elements of highways spending, and don't reflect the overall picture.

Highways budgets can include work on road maintenance, such as resurfacing and repairs, plus pavements and bridges.

Mr Moore says: "It is beyond belief that Bradford Council leaders allocated just £4 million for Keighley's roads, all whilst splashing nearly £50 million on Bradford’s.

"My constituents have been withheld millions of pounds which could have been spent repairing our roads, pavements, potholes and bridges."

Mr Davies said his constituents "deserved to know why they were being neglected".

He added: "I am extremely disappointed that we received such a small proportion of highways spending, but I am not surprised. Bradford Council repeatedly ploughs money into the three Labour heartlands at the expense of my constituents, who are rightly fed up of missing out on the improvements and investment we need. The only way to ensure we get what we deserve is to break away from Bradford Council and form a new authority with the Keighley constituency."

A Bradford Council spokesperson says: "The figures quoted were provided in response to a specific and narrow FOI request about certain elements of highways spend in the district.

"A more detailed assessment of highways expenditure has been undertaken and this shows with a greater degree of accuracy that the level of spend for highway improvements and maintenance within the Keighley and Shipley parliamentary constituencies between 2016-17 and 2021-22 was 33 per cent, compared to 40 per cent for the other three Bradford parliamentary constituencies in the district. The remainder is money that is spent district-wide, so can’t be broken down to parliamentary constituency level.

"The money spent by our highways department is allocated on the basis of the length of roads in a parliamentary constituency and its relative population density. This methodology provides a robust framework to ensure that funding is fairly allocated across the district.

"Where funding is allocated based upon specific projects, for example the £10m spent in Keighley on the Hard Ings Road improvements, the council tries to ensure that all constituencies are considered for funding under specific Government grants where a suitable project has been identified. The decision on whether or not that specific funding is awarded is a matter for the Government."