Pre-Budget Scrutiny: Roads Maintenance in Scotland

thumbnail of Roads budget evidence August 2019There is no doubt that local government has borne the brunt of cuts over the last 10 years. Reports,from COSLA, the Local Government Benchmarking Report, Accounts Commission and SPICe, confirm a decade of substantial cuts to local government budgets. Demand for services has also risen further impacting on budgets. Roads budgets have been disproportionately cut. Our own survey of members working in roads teams and show that there is a serious problem. Salami-slicing of services avoids headlines but the cuts are having a severe impact on our roads and the staff trying to deliver them with limited resources.