In a debate on improving Scotland’s roads in the Scottish parliament I accused the SNP government of causing suffering to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians over the conditions of roads across the country due to chronic underfunding of local authorities.
The debate comes as recent Freedom of Information requests show the total estimated cost of the current repair backlog for Scotland’s roads comes to more than £2.47 billion, up 47% on 2022’s figure of £1.68 billion. Fife roads make up over £100 million of that 2024 figure, an increase of 29% on 2022’s £77.6 million total.
In the debate I said that it was “not good enough for the Cabinet Secretary simply to say that it is down to local authorities,” pointing to repeated slashing of local authority budgets and stating, “the SNP Government has completely hammered local authority funding in a disproportionate way.”
I am calling for the Cabinet Secretary to stop blaming councils and find the investment required to get potholes fixed, no matter whether a council or the Government is responsible for the road.
The middle of the general election campaign is an appropriate time to have a debate on the terrible condition of Scotland’s roads as it is something constituent’s repeatedly raise with me on the doors.
This isn’t just an issue that impacts drivers, cyclists and pedestrians can also suffer damage or indeed injury from poorly maintained road networks.
I also do not think it is acceptable that local authorities take all the blame for the situation we find ourselves in – across the country, councils have had to suffer disproportionate levels of cuts over years meaning they have had to make ever more difficult decisions on where to channel funding and what they are prioritising. As a result, the roads have suffered.
I am calling on the Scottish Government to find the money necessary to repair Scotland’s broken road networks, to support local authorities in dealing with the critical level of maintenance and repair required and to bring an end to this ever-worsening situation.
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Scottish figures from individual FOI requests:
| 2022 | Repair Backlog | 2024 | Repair Backlog | Cash difference | % | ||
| Aberdeen City | Aberdeeen City | ||||||
| Aberdeenshire | 99,228,000 | Aberdeenshire | 115,576,000 | 16,348,000 | 16% | ||
| Angus | 55,454,000 | Angus | missing | ||||
| Argyle & Bute | 112,251,000 | Argyll and Bute | 112,251,000 | 0 | 0% | ||
| City of Edinburgh | 77,346,000 | City of Edinburgh | 85,719,000 | 8,373,000 | 11% | ||
| Clackmannanshire | 11,947,000 | Clackmannanshire | 11,000,000 | -947,000 | -8% | ||
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 36,000,000 | Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 43,205,000 | 7,205,000 | 20% | ||
| Dumfries & Galloway | 217,320,000 | Dumfries and Galloway | 253,471,000 | 36,151,000 | 17% | ||
| Dundee | 22,286,000 | Dundee City | missing | ||||
| East Ayrshire | 55,262,000 | East Ayrshire | 53,050,000 | -2,212,000 | -4% | ||
| East Dunbartonshire | East Dunbartonshire | 598,454,000 | new | ||||
| East Lothian | East Lothian | 0 | |||||
| East Renfrewshire | 25,302,000 | East Renfrewshire | 27,000,000 | 1,698,000 | 7% | ||
| Falkirk | 42,337,000 | Falkirk | 47,665,000 | 5,328,000 | 13% | ||
| Fife | 77,600,000 | Fife | 100,329,000 | 22,729,000 | 29% | ||
| Glasgow | 96,000,000 | Glasgow City | 104,082,538 | 8,082,538 | 8% | ||
| Inverclyde | 15,300,000 | Inverclyde | 15,026,000 | -274,000 | -2% | ||
| Midlothian | 19,500,000 | Midlothian | 37,270,000 | 17,770,000 | 91% | ||
| North Ayrshire | 34,807,000 | North Ayrshire | 38,565,000 | 3,758,000 | 11% | ||
| North Lanarkshire | 62,000,000 | North Lanarkshire | 73,973,000 | 11,973,000 | 19% | ||
| Orkney | 427,000 | Orkney Islands | 19,031,000 | 18,604,000 | 4357% | ||
| Perth & Kinross | 88,750,000 | Perth and Kinross | 99,725,000 | 10,975,000 | 12% | ||
| Renfrewshire | Renfrewshire | 38,160,000 | new | ||||
| Scottish Borders | 97,280,000 | Scottish Borders | 123,215,000 | 25,935,000 | 27% | ||
| Shetland Island | 33,400,000 | Shetland Islands | 33,933,000 | 533,000 | 2% | ||
| South Ayrshire | 46,441,000 | South Ayrshire | 50,600,000 | 4,159,000 | 9% | ||
| South Lanarkshire | 90,420,000 | South Lanarkshire | missing | ||||
| Stirling | Stirling | 57,070,000 | new | ||||
| The Highlands | 194,827,000 | The Highlands | 233,631,000 | 38,804,000 | 20% | ||
| The Moray | 40,706,000 | The Moray | 46,469,000 | 5,763,000 | 14% | ||
| West Dunbartonshire | West Dunbartonshire | 15,166,000 | new | ||||
| West Lothian | 31,067,000 | West Lothian | 38,001,000 | 6,934,000 | 22% | ||
| Total | 1,683,258,000 | Total | 2,471,637,538 | 788,379,538 | 47% |
