New figures show 17 out of 26 councils in Scotland overspent on road repairs last year, leading to calls for a dedicated pothole fund.
Scottish Conservatives said the current ‘slap-dash approach’ had seen spending increase by 35% from £163m in 2007-08 to £220m in 2013-14.
Scottish Borders Council overspent by £4m, according to the Conservatives, while the figure was £1m in East Dunbartonshire.
It said figures showed that 18 councils had overspent over the last seven years in a bid to keep up with road repairs.
‘We’re calling for an end to the current slap-dash approach to fixing our roads,’ said Alex Johnstone MSP, Scottish Conservative transport spokesman.
‘Thousands upon thousands of road users have to put up with the state of Scotland’s roads every day and many are understandably angry and fed-up.
‘This SNP government needs to take a far more strategic and long-term view to fix our road network. One possible way to sort our road infrastructure is if the Scottish Government provided a specific pothole fund so councils can bid for cash to spend on fixing potholes and creating a stronger infrastructure.’
He said it would mirror the introduction by UK Government of a dedicated fund in England. ‘So long as proper measures were put in place to make sure councils used the extra cash on road maintenance I see no reason why it wouldn’t work.
‘Our roads are a national embarrassment so it’s time for the SNP to get into gear and put in place a long-term strategy that will bring them into the 21st century.’
