£250m war on potholes

Tories demand Budget windfall is used to fix crumbling roads

SCOTLAND’S crumbling roads should be patched up using a £250million windfall, MSPs have demanded.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will pledge in his Budget today to spend £2.5billion fixing up to 50million potholes in England.

As a direct result, the Scottish Government will get around £250million more in its block grant

The Scottish Conservatives yesterday demanded the cash be ploughed into fixing Scotland’s decaying road system.

The party’s transport spokesman, Dean Lockhart, said: ‘Motorists have spent years begging the SNP Government to fix a growing number of potholes the length and breadth of the country.

‘But the SNP has taken no action, and the state of the roads network has deteriorated badly as a result.

‘Now, thanks to UK Government intervention and a massive increase in spending, there is a chance to change that.

‘If the Nationalists are serious about finally solving Scotland’s pothole problem, they will pass this cash on to do exactly that.’

Recent figures published by the Scottish Government show local authorities cut roads and transport investment by £51million last year – a 12 per cent reduction.

According to Holyrood’s connectivity committee, there is a £3billion pothole repairs backlog affecting more than a third of local streets and 13 per cent of major roads.

In his Budget, the Chancellor will announce an extra £2.5billion of funding for potholes in England as part of the Government’s plans to invest in infrastructure projects to ‘level up’ the UK. He believes tackling the ‘scourge of potholes’ will speed up journeys, reduce vehicle damage and make roads safer.

But Scotland could be left behind unless SNP ministers agree to use the cash boost on similar projects.

Car repair companies attend pothole-related breakdowns roughly once an hour across the UK and 90 per cent of insurance claims are related to pothole damage, costing drivers an average of £230 to fix.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford yesterday said this year’s Budget was ‘the most important in a decade’ because of the coronavirus crisis, Brexit, climate change and austerity.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Our own Budget has already set out an ambitious infrastructure plan which includes £1.4billion investment in our transport network.’

‘Most important in a decade’