Sheffield City Council has set out the staffing involved in ‘rigorously challenging’ contractor Amey over pothole failures.

The authority organises monthly service improvement meetings to review performance and monthly service operations board meetings to confirm actions, it says.

There are also monthly management board meetings and quarterly strategic board meetings which ‘provide opportunities for further escalation’.

‘Performance adjustments’ (fines) are applied where performance requirements are not met, the city council says.

So far this year the authority has imposed eight fines on the company, for failing to tackle ‘category one defects’ within 24 hours.

The figures, in a Freedom of Information response to The Star, also showed no fines were imposed in 2025, or 2024.

It comes amid anger over shoddy work and the number of defects on Sheffield’s roads.

The city council said Amey repaired 8,929 potholes in the first four months of 2026. But as of May 8, it still had 4,088 to fix.

The council’s £2.2bn PFI contract with Amey is set to last until 2037. Payment is made monthly.

Aside from fines, the authority says it has a dedicated inspection resource and a team of technical specialists to ‘oversee auditing and monitoring of contractual compliance, service quality and Amey’s work outputs’.

A spokesperson said: “The council’s team rigorously challenges Amey on perceived failures and areas for improvement.

“The council can and does use action plans or service improvement plans to focus on specific areas for development and improvement.”