Potholes have cost Scottish councils £228,000 in
compensation claims in just one year. That's the equivalent of over £600 a day.
50,000 drivers across the UK made a claim. This is the
equivalent of roughly one claim being submitted every eleven minutes day and
night, 365 days a year and an increase on the 2012/13 figure of 46,139 claims.
It also costs councils £109 to administer each claim.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation,
said the figures were likely to be “the tip of the iceberg” as many drivers are
put off by the time and effort involved in making a claim. He said: “The
fundamental problem lies with central government. They are simply not giving
councils enough money to keep their road networks up to scratch.”
The Scottish data for each council can be viewed here.
Potholes are just the latest example of the impact of cuts
on council services. As they go into the 2015 budget setting process, most are
trying to balance the books through the salami slicing of services. You can get
away with poor maintenance for a year or two, but eventually it catches up. By
making councils bear the brunt of austerity cuts in Scotland we are presiding
over a crumbling infrastructure.
This was also highlighted in Audit Scotland’s overview of
local government spending last year.
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