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Public Audit Committee 23 February 2011

23 Feb 2011 · S3 · Public Audit Committee

Item of business

Section 23 Reports

“Maintaining Scotland’s Roads: a follow-up report”

Henry, Hugh Lab Paisley South Watch on SPTV

I thank the Auditor General and Ronnie Nicol for a comprehensive introduction to a significant issue for us all. You have posed a challenge to politicians of all parties on how they address it. It is quite sobering and worrying to hear what you have had to say.The Auditor General’s point about the responsibility of the current generation of decision makers not to pass on a burden to future generations is well made. We have been the beneficiaries of good long-term planning and better times. There is some evidence that we are spending for the short term but not thinking in the long term.Audit Scotland might not have looked at this, but I understand the difficulties that councils have had in responding to two pretty severe winters that have had a huge impact on our local and national road network. The Auditor General gave us an amusing anecdote about his car being off the road because it hit a pothole, which is an experience that will have been shared with anguish, not amusement, by thousands of people across Scotland. Those who have their cars damaged by potholes are frustrated when they attempt to make a claim and the council’s insurers fall back on a tried and tested routine of asking whether the pothole has been reported. If it has not, the council accepts no liability or responsibility. Therefore, when people see a pothole, it is important that they do not just moan about it but report it, to protect the interests of other motorists.I understand that part of the problem is the budgetary situation, but it is increasingly evident that, when there is a local response to reports of potholes, the councils in general do not fix the problem for the long term. They merely respond to the problem to avoid an insurance liability. I can comment only on the area that I live in and represent in Renfrewshire, which Ronnie Nicol will be familiar with. Some roads virtually have ditches running down the middle of them and you cannot go near the side of the road on others unless you want to inflict significant damage on your car. What has happened is worrying, to say the least. In fact, it is appalling.There used to be a phrase about not throwing money down the drain. Now we see councils wasting money by throwing it down potholes. They are putting on temporary patches, which are only there for days before they start to unravel, but the councils can say that they have responded to the report about the pothole. There is no way on God’s earth that those repairs are going to last.However, I know companies across Scotland that are saying that they can do a job that, although it might initially be more expensive, will solve the problem with a solution that will last and save the councils money in the long run. What do we need to do, first, to get some common sense applied to the problem and, secondly, to address the immediate financial burden of a repair that might be more expensive but which—to come back to the Auditor General’s exhortation—will better serve us and future generations? What needs to be done to bring that common sense to the approach?

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Public Audit Committee 23 February 2011

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