Meeting of the Parliament 19 December 2024
I commend Pam Gosal for bringing this important issue to the chamber. It is an issue across the UK, and the research from the RAC that is cited in Pam Gosal’s motion is about roads across the UK. All the parties that have contributed so far in this debate have been in power in one form or another in different parts of the UK. This is a collective issue, and here is an MSP from the SNP on their feet speaking about motorists, which I hope gives some reassurance.
I want to speak about urban roads, given that I represent Edinburgh Northern and Leith, which is the most densely populated urban area of Scotland. In the Parliament, there is rightly much discussion about our national roads—our important A roads and motorways. Urban roads are primarily the responsibility of local authorities, and others have spoken about rural roads. However, it is important that, in representing our constituencies, we are able to talk about the issues for motorists in our area. For example, Lower Granton Road, which goes along Wardie bay in my constituency, handles more traffic in a year than the A9 does, and I have argued to the council that I should be able to advocate on behalf of my constituents for appropriate investment in that area. The issue in our capital city is of relevance to the Scottish Government as well, even though it is not fully responsible for it.
The challenge of the quality, maintenance and integrity of our urban roads is a challenge across the UK. As highlighted in the motion, the challenge of potholes is partly about repair. The reason that potholes occur is partly to do with the weather, but a lot of the time it is because the integrity of the road has been weakened by utility companies doing the various works that they need to do.
After the financial crisis, the Conservative Cameron Government considered whether to create a duty on energy and other utility companies across the UK to better co-ordinate their works. The then UK Government backed away from that idea because utility companies opposed it and said that they would simply pass on the cost to consumers. Of course, during the financial crisis, people were impacted by the recession, as they are now with the cost of living crisis.
The carrying out of utility works is the main reason why we get potholes in urban Scotland. My constituents regularly write to me because they are sick of seeing roads, including roads near this Parliament, dug up one month by one company, dug up the next month by another and then dug up a few months later by another company. That causes inconvenience for drivers and it weakens the road.