Council plea to ministers for roads money
COUNCIL chiefs urgently want £180 million extra government funding to improve Highland roads maintained by the local authority.
They are telling the UK Treasury and Scottish Government that "just to maintain the road network in its current state, where it gets no better or worse" would require £21.7 million annual investment "not including bridges or footways".
The figures feature in a four-page plea which also begs for urgent additional funding for schools.
The council’s independent-led administration reminds the respective governments that, in an age of ever tighter purse strings, it has to manage 4200 miles of roads, more than 2000 bridges and culverts and 100 car parks.
The plea stated: "In 2011, we had the 11th best road network in Scotland – we are now seventh worst in 25th place".
It argues that it has only £6.4 million per year – a third of the required funding – available for road resurfacing.
The document stated the council cannot afford to further increase the proportion of our revenue budget spent on the network while having the fourth highest debt of Scotland’s 32 councils, currently standing at £836.7 million.
It stated the 2018/19 Scottish Government grant is £41 million, of which £9.6 million is needed for three flood prevention schemes – and the remaining £31.4 million is needed to support all other council assets.
The administration highlights the fact that it has the largest number of schools – 204 – and 12 are currently over capacity.
Asked how worthwhile the approach to the two governments was, Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson said: "We are a special case. We’ve got the most roads and schools and most of them in the poorest condition. That’s nobody’s fault, that’s our geography."
She expected both governments to insist that grant support has risen year on year – something the council has consistently disputed.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "Highland Council has had more money this year from the Scottish Government despite UK government cuts to our budget. It will receive over £487 million Scottish Government funding.
This is £17.1 million more to support services compared to last year taken together with the decision to increase their council tax by three per cent. The local government needs-based funding formula takes into account a number of factors such as rural and island communities, as well as road length and number of school pupils."
A spokesman for the UK Treasury said: "We’ve helped make the Scottish Parliament one of the most powerful devolved bodies in the world and they have a full range of tax powers to raise funds."