Committee
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”
I get the impression—this is not a party-political point in any way—that officials in the Scottish Executive or Government transport department are preoccupied with prestige projects, such as the Forth replacement crossing, which is a total waste of money, and that there is no glamour or excitement in keeping the roads properly maintained. Is that an unfair analysis?
In the same item of business
The Convener
Lab
Item 2 is consideration of “Maintaining Scotland’s Roads: a follow-up report”, which is a topical issue. I invite the Auditor General to comment.
Mr Black
Thank you, convener. The only interest that I have to declare is that I own a car. Laughter.
Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab)
Lab
And it is off the road.
Mr Black
It was off the road for 48 hours because of an unforeseen pothole.
Mr McAveety
Lab
Why is that not in the report?
Mr Black
I sometimes think that, if we want media headlines, all we have to do is publish a report on potholes. However, to be serious—and we always report on serious...
Ronnie Nicol (Audit Scotland)
Scotland’s road network consists of almost 56,000km of road. Transport Scotland is responsible for 3,400km of motorways and trunk roads, and councils are res...
The Convener
Lab
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...
Mr Black
We have no easy answer to that. If we had, we would share it with you. It is one of those occasions on which the analysis asks more questions than it answers...
Murdo Fraser
Con
I endorse the convener’s remarks. The problem, though, is not just with local roads; driving on the M90, as I do several times a week, I find myself weaving ...
Ronnie Nicol
Yes. We carried out the audit work for this report last summer and autumn, and the statistics from SCOTS that we have used are for a similar period.I should ...
Murdo Fraser
Con
Perhaps we need another category—“extra worse”, perhaps—for future reports.I was interested to read in the second key message that public spending in Scotlan...
Ronnie Nicol
As this was a follow-up audit, we were essentially looking at the data that we had received in the previous audit. On this occasion, we focused on levels of ...
Murdo Fraser
Con
Exhibit 6 on page 11 compares the situation in Scotland with that in England and Wales. It is clear that we are in a much worse position than they are; for e...
Ronnie Nicol
I am afraid that we did not drill into those differences to find out the reasons for them, but we thought that it might at least be of interest to present th...
Mr Black
That is another issue that has emerged from the report to which others will have to provide answers.
Murdo Fraser
Con
I do not know how we are fixed with regard to following up this report, but it is an issue that we could consider.
Mr McAveety
Lab
In much of this discussion it seems that personal testimonies are required. It would be helpful if committee members helped each other in their appeals to lo...
Ronnie Nicol
The figure was provided by professional transport managers, so it reflects their judgment on keeping the roads in an acceptable, usable condition.
Mr McAveety
Lab
What role is there for national direction in the debate, given that despite the publication of a major report little has changed dramatically?The differences...
Ronnie Nicol
I think that such factors are part of what has driven us to recommend that everyone comes together to have a new look at things at a national level. There ha...
George Foulkes
Lab
Please excuse the pun when I say that we seem to keep trying to reinvent the wheel. Lord Wheatley had it right in the early 1970s—
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
Is he still in the Lords with you, George?
George Foulkes
Lab
No. I am talking about the late Lord Wheatley. He is no longer there—at least, I did not notice him, anyway.As I recall, the best time for road maintenance w...
Mr Black
Yes.
George Foulkes
Lab
I get the impression—this is not a party-political point in any way—that officials in the Scottish Executive or Government transport department are preoccupi...
Anne McLaughlin
SNP
Would trams fall into that category?
Mr Black
If I may, I would prefer not to respond to the latter part of Mr Foulkes’s comment. On the former part, as some committee members might be aware, I have had ...
George Foulkes
Lab
Of course the one good thing about trams is that they do not create potholes, do they?
The Convener
Lab
We will leave that one for the moment.