The Scottish Government

Local Roads

The statutory responsibility for the network of local roads and bridges lies with individual local authorities. Councils are therefore responsible for the management, maintenance and improvement of all public roads in their areas, which do not form part of the trunk road network. This represents around 94% of Scotland's roads (some 56,000km), and there are over 11,000 bridges owned by local authorities in Scotland.

Management and Maintenance

In 2002, all 32 local authorities in Scotland agreed to undertake a rolling survey of the condition of the local road network. The Scottish Executive fully supports this work, which is being co-ordinated by the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) (http://www.scots-website.org.uk/). The survey will operate on a 4 year rolling cycle, with all A roads covered annually, while a proportion of B, C and unclassified roads will be surveyed each year, leading to full coverage over the 4 years. The results of the survey will provide an overall view of the condition of the network, as well as detailed information to allow local authorities to assess the need for repairs & maintenance, and identify future priorities for investment in improvements.

Local Roads Funding

Funding for local roads, both capital and revenue, is provided through the overall local government finance settlement, under formula arrangements agreed with COSLA. This funding is not "ring-fenced" and it is up to each council to decide the priority of local roads and bridges amongst its other spending plans. However, Scottish Ministers have acknowledged the need to address a long-standing backlog of repairs and improvements works and have allocated extra funding to local authorities to address this. This has included £70 million in capital funding over 3 years, and over £60 million in additional revenue funding since February 2002.