Scottish Conservatives would invest £100m in Pothole Action Fund

The Scottish Conservatives have reinforced their commitment to improve Scotland’s roads with a £100m Pothole Action Fund. The fund has been announced during the private member’s debate led by Rachael Hamilton MSP, Scottish Conservative MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

The fund would set aside £100m in a Roads Maintenance Fund over the term of the next Scottish Parliament. Local authorities would then bid to access funds which would be used to repair potholes across the country.

This would be equivalent to £20 million per year. At an average cost of £52 per pothole repair, the fund would help fix nearly 2 million potholes over the course of the Parliament.

Scotland has a combined 153,310 potholes at a total depth of 6,354m. Recent statistics suggest that more than a quarter of the country’s roads are in an unsatisfactory state. Local authorities have paid out over £2million in pothole compensation claims to motorists over the last ten years, while maintenance funding for roads has been reduced by 20 per cent.

The recent severe weather has now made repair even more difficult, meaning that Scotland’s roads are now facing a crisis.

Jamie Greene, Scottish Conservative Transport Spokesman said: “The SNP has consistently neglected Scotland’s roads and the results are painfully obvious for all to see.

“We all rely on our roads but they are now plagued with potholes and poor road surfaces which is not just damaging cars but endangering cyclists and motorcyclists. Beyond our concerns for public safety, this systematic under-investment is slowing our economy and costing local councils a fortune in compensation for car owners.

“The Scottish Conservatives recognise the importance of a well-maintained road infrastructure and we are willing to invest in it with this new national fund. It’s the right thing to do to turn around the state of our roads. Well maintained roads are also vital to Scotland’s economic future.

“Chronic SNP inaction and lack of investment, after a decade in power, has caused a totally avoidable problem, they must stop neglecting Scotland’s roads and ignoring Scotland’s road users, four wheeled or otherwise.”

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP, added: “The state of potholes across Lothian is staggering and this fund would go a long way to repairing the thousands of potholes across the region.

“The state of disrepair on our roads has got out of hand and it is the Scottish Conservatives who are prepared to do something about it.”