This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Cash boost for local roads
31/01/2003
An extra £15 million is being made available to Scottish local authorities to improve local roads, it was announced today.
All 32 local authorities will receive a share of the funding. It will be used to help address local road priorities.
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services Peter Peacock said:
"This extra £15 million from the Executive is welcome news for every local authority in Scotland. It will help councils address local priorities.
"It is no panacea, but it builds on substantial funding we already provide. I hope it will allow councils to accelerate the completion of local roads projects while repairing and maintaining existing roads.
"This complements our 'quality of life' initiative, which is pumping new money into communities over four years, to tackle local priorities, much of that already going to roads projects.
Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Lewis Macdonald said:
"Many local authorities are working hard to bring their local road networks up to a good condition and significant work has been done in a number of areas over recent months
"We made available £20 million last February and in June a further £28 million of the money distributed under the Quality of Life Initiative was to be used for road improvements. Local authorities have made good use of that. We are keen to see this effort continue and we are pleased to make these further resources available to benefit local communities.
"We are well aware that there is a huge backlog of repairs and improvement work needed on our roads. Councils have started to address this in the past few years and the report from the Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland on the condition of Scottish local roads will help to focus future investment.
In the meantime, we urge councils to put this money to good use - it would be easy to put off work on local roads issues but action now can bring real benefits to safety and travelling comfort."
Local authorities are responsible for local roads and funding is made through the local government settlement to provide for the necessary improvement and maintenance work.
The Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland is carrying out a survey of the condition of local roads in Scotland on behalf of CoSLA and local authorities. The report of the first year's findings is expected later in the year.
The distribution of the £15 million between local authorities is calculated using the standard distribution for roads maintenance funding within local authorities' block revenue allocation. It breaks down as:
- Aberdeen City - £442,462
- Aberdeenshire - £1,128,250
- Angus - £387,169
- Argyll & Bute - £537,816
- Clackmannanshire - £118,705
- Dumfries & Galloway - £788,308
- Dundee City - £246, 487
- East Ayrshire - £310, 281
- East Dunbartonshire - £253,156
- East Lothian - £249,440
- East Renfrewshire - £207,812
- Edinburgh, City of - £974,694
- Eilean Siar - £274,551
- Falkirk - £341,296
- Fife - £869,255
- Glasgow City - £941,510
- Highland - £1,342,964
- Inverclyde - £145,061
- Midlothian - £218,189
- Moray - £349,251
- North Ayrshire - £316,457
- North Lanarkshire - £599,269
- Orkney - £176,079
- Perth & Kinross - £554,317
- Renfrewshire - £357,148
- Scottish Borders - £570,324
- Shetland - £178,893
- South Ayrshire - £323,296
- South Lanarkshire - £719,380
- Stirling - £492,076
- West Dunbartonshire - £165,463
- West Lothian - £420,641