Highland Council has voted through a budget that delivers an extra £14.1 million investment in roads repairs.
It will also see the creation of a new rapid response team, which will provide quick pothole repairs across the region.
It was a rare bright spot in the gloomy Highland Council budget, which grappled with a near £50 million shortfall.
But opposition members clashed over whether it’s enough. The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and some Independents proposed a joint amendment calling for more.
Meanwhile the Greens accused the council of abandoning its climate change goals by prioritising roads over active travel and energy saving.
Despite the controversy, the roads proposals were voted through.
‘Our communities want their roads fixed’
Opening the budget meeting, Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner said the Highland people had made their priorities absolutely clear. They want their roads fixed.
As a result, the budget proposals focused on three main areas: protecting jobs, keeping the council tax rise affordable, and investing in roads.
At 4%, the council tax rise is the lowest in Scotland, and the council has avoided making any compulsory redundancies. It will shed up to 500 staff through retirements and the deletion of vacant posts.
And it has promised £12.8 million capital funding to undertake major repairs of the road network. In addition, another £1.266 million for the new pothole team. This takes the capital budget up to £20 million for the coming year.
However, opposition councillors say the figure is still “woefully inadequate”. The most recent data from the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey put the total repair bill for Highland at an eye-watering £195 million. They say four in 10 Highlands roads need repaired.
Raid the piggy bank, or ask the Scottish Government
How can Highland Council possibly catch up?
Members had different ideas there. Opposition leader Alasdair Christie tabled an amendment that would put an extra £23 million into the capital budget for roads.
His amendment read: “The proposed spend on roads as detailed in the administration budget as a priority investment is woefully inadequate to keep pace with the deterioration and remedial works required.
“Noting that the council tax rise is 4%, we propose to allocate 3% towards meeting the budget gap and 1% to fund the loans charges, thereby allowing an extra £23 million of capital investment in our roads. This will cost £1.344 million in loan charges in 2023/24 and be funded by use of reserves.”
However, the administration argued it wouldn’t be prudent to dig deeper into reserves. Mr Christie had called the administration budget “slash and burn” but councillor Emma Knox replied that the amendment is “grab and dash”.
“This budget is not just for today,” said Ms Knox. “It has to be sustainable and realistic.”
Mr Christie himself acknowledged that the council reserves will hit zero by 2025/26 and negative numbers by 2026/27, unless drastic action is taken.
But he believes this year’s projected overspend will be far less than expected, which would absorb the extra costs.
‘The public are watching’
Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss picked up on that point, noting that finance boss Ed Foster said the Highland Council is not financially sustainable in the medium term.
Mr Reiss argued that the council’s focus should be on Holyrood. He said the transport minister had refused to increase Highland roads funding, noting that all councils want more cash. “That impasse gives you a clear choice,” he said. “Meekly accept, or politely ask for a review of the funding formula. Rural authorities are very clearly losing out.”
Directly addressing the independent councillors who are part of the coalition administration he said: “It’s your choice. We are at a junction, if you like. The public are watching. Are you truly independent?”
But not all members wanted to find more money for roads.
The Greens acknowledged the need for greater investment, but said the budget should do more for people, jobs and the climate.
Councillor Emma Willis accused the council of reprofiling climate action money to fund road repairs. “It does nothing to accelerate our response to the climate change crisis, which is incredibly sad,” she said. “Our 2019 declaration of a climate emergency is meaningless.”
Roads investment voted through
Under increasing pressure, the coalition administration stuck to its guns. They stressed that this was the most challenging budget for many years, dubbed “a perfect storm” by the leader Raymond Bremner.
Mr Bremner said the administration had reduced options to close the budget gap, and tough choices had to be made.
Councillor Ken Gowans said the delivery of extra cash for roads against a £50 million budget gap is “Not just remarkable, but sustainable, deliverable and desirable.”
The administration budget won the vote 40-29 with two abstentions.
Are you interested in more exclusive and breaking Highland and Islands news from the P&J? If so, why not join our dedicated Facebook page HERE
Conversation