Meeting of the Parliament 09 May 2018
And the south-west. Dumfries and Galloway Council and other councils cover a large area. However, Kate Forbes was right to mention Highland Council.
My point about the trunk road network is that we are putting our money where our mouth is.
Before I turn to local authorities, there is another thing to say about the A90 in the north-east. We are investing heavily in that. Members will be aware—and, I am sure, very supportive—of the work that we are doing in taking forward the Laurencekirk junction, the Aberdeen western peripheral route, the dualling of the A96, the Haudagain roundabout and, indeed, the average speed cameras between Dundee and Stonehaven, which will help to improve road safety.
On local roads, many members have mentioned SCOTS, which, as members would imagine, I have a good relationship with. I will not take away from the fact that there have been challenging times for local authorities in the past few years, but it is clear that where they choose to spend their budget is a question of priorities. No party at the local authority level necessarily has clean hands on that; all of them have to reflect hard on where they have chosen to spend their money over the years. The £22 million over three years from Scottish Borders Council that Rachael Hamilton mentioned might go a good way to repairing local roads, but it is worth mentioning that the SNP opposition wanted an extra £2 million and that was voted down. Nonetheless, how does that £22 million over three years compare with the Borders budget over the next three years? Perhaps it compares positively; I am just asking the question. In previous years—SCOTS would be the first to say this—the amount that needed to be spent on road maintenance probably fell short of what it should have been.