Council scores highly in pothole performance study

Perth and Kinross Council is one of the best performing in Scotland for pothole repairs, a new study has revealed.

The local authority managed to fix 92% of reported damage to its road network over the winter, compared to a national average of 78%.

The council is second only to Shetland, which only had to deal with six potholes for the whole of this winter.

Figures released under a Freedom of Information request show Perth and Kinross repaired 4,828 of 5,251 reported holes between November and the end of February.

The Courier revealed last week that the council had spent more than £5 million on its winter maintenance budget – £1.5m more than expected.

Approximately £1m more may have to be spent on fixing potholes detected after February, when the country was battered by the beast from the east.

Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Barrett welcomed the study, which showed 53,500 potholes were reported to councils across Scotland (of which 41,796 were repaired).

“We repaired 4,828 potholes compared to 5,251 reported between November and the end of February,” he said.

“That is a tremendous effort by council roads staff and maintenance crews, despite severe winter conditions and in the face of last year’s cuts in funding from the Scottish Government.”

He added: “We are still left with more than 400 potholes outstanding, which doesn’t take account of the additional damage caused by the beast from the east.”