Funding for Local Roads

That the Parliament welcomes the Scottish Executive’s £15 million funding award to local authorities to assist with the repair and improvement of the condition of local roads; recognises that for a number of decades the non-trunk roads network has suffered from under-investment, while the number of vehicles using such roads has increased dramatically; notes Stirling Council’s recent cross-party scrutiny panel which called for a reduction in the number of ring-fenced budgets in order to address this problem; further notes the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey by the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland which will evaluate the non-trunk road network across Scotland, and considers that the Scottish Executive should use the report as a basis for allocating resources according to the needs identified, thereby providing a long-term funding programme for the non-trunk road network in Scotland.