More than a third of Scotland's road network is in an unacceptable state after severe winter, finds auditor general
More than a third of Scotland's roads are in an unacceptable condition and the bill for the backlog of repairs is running at �2.25bn, according to a report.
Despite an increase in public spending on road maintenance, Audit Scotland found that the condition of roads is worsening and public dissatisfaction is increasing.
The Scottish government has already announced an extra �15m to help local authorities deal with the immediate impact on roads of the severe winter. The funding was three times the amount made available the previous year. The government said the money was for urgent repairs and to cover the costs of winter roads maintenance. Since the beginning of December, some 500 million tonnes of salt has been spread on roads across the country.
The Audit Scotland study notes that the government's budget reduced trunk road maintenance funding by 20% from �133m to �107m for 2010/11. Local government budgets have also been reduced by 4%.
Scotland's public spending watchdog has called on ministers to consider a national review of how the road network is managed and maintained.
Robert Black, the auditor general for Scotland, said: "Members of the public are increasingly dissatisfied with the condition of our roads. The pattern of spending and scale of backlog means that the value of these public assets is not being sustained.
"By deferring essential expenditure on infrastructure, public bodies are storing up problems for the future and passing a greater burden on to generations to come."
The report ? which examines progress on implementing the recommendations made in a previous audit in 2004 ? found only 63% of the country's roads are in acceptable condition.
The cost of the maintenance backlog has increased by �1bn to �2.25bn since 2004. This represents the amount Transport Scotland and local authorities would need to spend to fix all road defects.
In 2009/10, �654m was spent on road maintenance ? �162m on trunk roads and �492m on local roads ? which represents an increase of �32m on spending in 2004/05.
Transport Scotland, which has responsibility for trunk roads including motorways, estimated it would need to spend an additional �275m to get trunk roads into a "steady state" where a fixed amount of roads need structural maintenance each year.
In the past five years, local authorities in Scotland paid out �5m in compensation to drivers whose vehicles have been damaged by road defects.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/16/scotland-roads-repair-bill
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