S4W-16217: New roads and road maintenance

To ask the Scottish Government whether it would, in an independent Scotland, consider ringfencing a proportion of taxes raised through vehicle excise duty, petrol and diesel for new roads and road maintenance.

Date Lodged: 02/07/2013

Answered by Keith Brown, Minister for Transport and Veterans, (23/07/13):  

In the event of a vote for independence in September 2014, decisions on post-independence budgets would be for future Parliaments to take.

You may be interested to know that since 2007 the Scottish Government has invested over £2.6bn to maintain and improve our trunk road network, and that statutory responsibility for local road improvements, maintenance and repair lies with local authorities. In 2013-14 as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement the Scottish Government has provided local authorities with over £10.3bn for roads.