Meeting of the Parliament 19 December 2024
In the spirit of the season of good will, Presiding Officer, I very much wish a merry and peaceful Christmas and a happy and healthy new year to you and your family. I also put on record my sincere thanks to all the people in this place who get things done, make this place work and allow us—who are absolutely privileged to be here to represent our constituents—to get on with the job that we are here to do. I extend that to everyone.
I thank Pam Gosal for bringing this important debate to the chamber—and it is indeed an important debate. The facts that she mentioned about one of her constituents outline why it is important, and I would in no way minimise that in my contribution.
I make it clear that we absolutely appreciate that road maintenance for both trunk and local roads faces challenges across the network. We acknowledge the importance of safe, well-performing roads; indeed, they are absolutely essential, not just to the health of our people, but to the health of Scotland’s economy.
As members are aware, Scottish ministers are responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, while, in accordance with the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, local roads clearly fall under the responsibility of the relevant local authority. I know that members do not like to hear that, but those are the facts. It is important to make that distinction, because only the funding for the maintenance of the trunk road network, which makes up around 6 per cent of Scotland’s overall road network, is directly controlled by the Scottish Government.
The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via the block grant. We do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations, nor do I think that any member on any side of the chamber would be comfortable with the Scottish Government doing so. As I have said, the vast majority of local authority funding comes from the block grant, and it is the responsibility of each local authority to manage its own budget and to allocate the financial resources that are available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
With regard to the maintenance of our trunk road network, the operating companies that maintain the trunk road network on behalf of the Scottish Government have a contractual obligation to inspect the network at least weekly and to make any necessary repairs within a strict timescale. The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all serious defects that could present a hazard to road users on the motorway and trunk road network.
To support that work, we have increased total investment in the safety, operation and maintenance of the trunk road network by more than 30 per cent, to a record level of more than £683 million in 2024-25, and in 2025-26, that is planned to increase by a further 4.5 per cent to more than £714 million. The increased budget for the trunk road network’s safety, adaptation, operation and maintenance enables the Scottish Government to meet all of its contractual and legal commitments, as well as supporting its wider commitments on road safety, air quality and climate adaptation.
As I stated earlier, local road maintenance is the responsibility of local authorities, which allocate resources based on their priorities. The Scottish Government is providing more than £15 billion in 2025-26 to the local government settlement; that is a £1 billion increase in the resources available to local government, which is equivalent to a 7.2 per cent cash-terms increase and a 4.7 per cent increase in real terms. Indeed, the independent Accounts Commission recently confirmed that the Scottish Government provided a real-terms increase to local governments in 2023-24 and 2022-23.
Again, I emphasise that it is for the local representatives to decide how to best deliver for their communities. There is no dedicated pothole fund. It is important to note that any Barnett consequentials arising from Westminster spending are added to the Scottish block grant as a whole, and Scottish ministers will decide how best to allocate those resources. As part of that process, consideration is given to what support can be provided to help improve road conditions where required.