Brent Council will bring decisions over road repairs in the borough back in-house, following concerns about the current system.

It announced that, from November 1, it will make decisions on the priority of repairs on Brent’s roads in a bid to "meet residents' needs better".

Previously the contractor, Conway Aecom, which received a lump sum from the council, carried out inspections and then completed repairs on what it deemed as ‘high priority’ incidents.

But ‘medium priority’ repairs were carried out by the council – from its own budget – and there were concerns over the fairness of the service.

At a meeting last month, councillors pointed out the potential conflict of interests between Conway and the council when it comes to deciding how important each repair is.

Cllr Shama Tatler, responsible for regeneration, highways and planning at Brent Council, said it “wasn’t suitable for either side” and led to a “waste of resources”.

She said: “The solution which we’ve agreed is that Brent will bring highway inspections back in-house, which will mean that the council can decide what is high priority, taking into account the feedback from our residents.

“Overall, this move will mean that the repairs that matter most to residents are prioritised for repair and carried out in a more timely way.”

Andy Best, contract manager at Conway, agreed that this was a positive step but insisted that assessors had been aware of the need to carry-out proper inspections.

“There are two-and-a-half years left on the contract and we are completely committed to delivering this service,” he added.