THE leader of the Labour group at Newport council says he is still waiting for a response from the authority after making a Freedom of Information Act request more than a year ago.

Bob Bright said he is yet to receive an answer on how much would be spent on the Project 21 road scheme on each ward in the city.

The £21 million programme aims to clear a backlog of road maintenance in Newport, and was approved by cabinet in February 2009.

He told the council meeting officers told him he would need to pay £66 an hour for the information, and that he had been waiting longer than a year.

“This is a serious matter of holding the system to account,” he said, adding that he had met managing director Tracey Lee who told him the information was in a rough form and that he will have it shortly.

A Newport council spokeswoman said the work programme was not carried out by ward but by “zones” across the city.

“The council received a Freedom of Information inquiry for the information by wards but this would have exceeded the 18-hour limit for carrying out such requests,”

she said, but added the work is anticipated to now be completed in the near future.

“Last autumn it was agreed that this would be provided but it is a considerable piece of work which requires examining exactly what was done for each road and pavement in every ward and then breaking down the individual costs from various contracts,” she said, adding it is anticipated it will be completed and made available in the near future.

The council said Project 21 has seen surface dressing, micro asphalting, resurfacing and reconstructions carried out on 153 miles of roads and 192 miles of pavements.