£500k budget ‘bribe’ from Holyrood won’t fix Angus pothole problem

An extra £500,000 for Angus roads, described as a Holyrood budget “bribe” earlier this year, still will not cover the cost of fixing the area’s potholes.

In February, SNP councillor Kenny Braes shocked party colleagues with his criticism of the Scottish Government’s offer of £2.8 million to keep council tax frozen last year.

He said the council was being “given a bribe” by the “outrageous” interference in setting the council tax rate.

Of the extra cash, £500,000 was directed towards roads.

But as the authority prepares to set its next budget – with a warning of a significant council tax hike – it has been revealed the extra money hasn’t prevented a roads overspend.

The good news for Angus residents is that the overall capital budget is set to come in below forecast this year.

Overall underspend on capital budget

Finance director Ian Lorimer set out the financial picture to policy committee councillors this week.

He is forecasting an infrastructure budget overspend close to £2m.

It includes more than £750,000 extra on the pothole programme.

“This is due to higher than anticipated construction costs,” said Mr Lorimer.

Another £228,000 was the increased cost of tackling a project to combat flooding in Kingsmuir, near Forfar.

Infrastructure services director Graeme Dailly said: “Once we started on site, it was clear the spend was additional to what had been budgeted for.

“But it has resolved a longstanding problem.

“I would hope the Forfar members would agree it’s made a significant difference.”

Underspending in other areas includes £1 million due to delays in acquiring land for a new cemetery in Arbroath.

Mr Lorimer said: “We’re currently projecting an underspend on both a net and gross basis.

“The capital budget is dominated by the construction of the new school at Monifieth. I’m pleased to report that is progressing well.

Council leader Bill Duff said the capital monitoring spend was “pretty healthy” at more than 90%.

“I think that is pretty sound, and perhaps better than we’ve seen in past years,” he added.