More cash pledged for Scottish roads

21 November 2007

The Scottish Government has announced inflation-beating funding increases for local authority capital projects and motorways and trunk roads.

Scottish finance minister, John Swinney, said the Scottish National Party’s first-ever Budget would deliver the planned strategic roads programme, and provide a marginal rise in local government’s share of funding.

This followed a 1.4% annual increase from the Treasury, he said. But opposition politicians questioned whether the local authority budget would cover ambitious SNP manifesto pledges, while freezing council tax, and whether Scotland could reduce CO2 emissions by 80% while expanding road building.

Announcing ‘a new relationship’ with local government, the Scottish Government announced almost £500M extra in revenue and capital funding for local authorities in 2008/09. Local government would have ‘a vital role’ in making Scotland wealthier and fairer, smarter, healthier, safer and stronger, and greener.

A single capital pot for councils will increase by 13% next year, from £860M to £975M, followed by relatively-small rises in the following two years. The revenue grant will increase from £7.9bn to £9bn. But, it was uncertain how much, if any, would be spent on local roads and transport.

The SNP signed a concordat with the Convention Of Scottish Local Authorities committing councils to reduce school class sizes, expand pre-school schooling, and work towards free personal care for the elderly. Meanwhile, Transport Scotland’s budget for trunk roads and motorways will balloon from £878M to £1.2bn in three years’ time, an extra £443M over three years. This would allow the completion of the central Scotland motorway network – the M8, M80 and M74 – the A90 Aberdeen western peripheral route, and improvements for the A68, A75, A77, A9 and A96, according to the SNP Government. But, there will be a £20M reduction in the ‘transport strategy and innovation budget’ which has funded home zones, and funding for bus subsidies will remain stagnant.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats slammed a Budget of ‘deception, spin and half-truths,’ claiming ‘not a single council has committed to freeze council tax’. The Green Party said that the major road projects would ‘have a very negative impact on Scotland’s carbon emissions’.

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