Fife Council is poised to join forces with five other local authorities and share resources in an effort to help fix the region’s roads.
Talks with the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, and Mid, East and West Lothian councils over the pooling of staff and equipment for road services are said to be at an advanced stage, with Fife councillors expected to rubber-stamp the move early in the New Year.
Cost-cutting is the likely key driver behind the proposals, with Fife’s budget alone already facing the prospect of a £91 million shortfall over the next three years. However, the plans have come as a shock to many Fife councillors, with some hearing about the innovative idea for the first time from discussions held by counterparts in East Lothian.
It is understood elected members there have already signed up to the principle but Fife is yet to formally consider the proposal.
Fife Lib Dem group leader Tim Brett said he has a number of questions but remains open-minded about the prospect of working with other councils.
“Working with other local authorities is good and I have absolutely nothing against that,” he said. “But I just wonder why there hasn’t been a briefing to councillors in Fife about this before now.
“What are the reasons for doing it? What resources are Fife Council’s transportation service going to put into this, both in terms of finance and manpower?
“What difference do we think it will make and, more crucially, what are the governance arrangements?
“There is obviously going to have to be some cross-council mechanism so who will people report to?
“How will we know it’s working and will there be any detriment to roads maintenance in Fife?
“I can show you plenty of roads in Fife which are not being well maintained currently, and plenty of potholes which haven’t been filled for weeks, so this is something I will be looking at very closely.”
Ken Gourlay, head of assets, transportation and environment, said: “A report on the subject is going to the next executive committee on January 12 for councillors to consider.
“Currently, no decision on Fife’s participation has been made.”