Exclusive:Edinburgh Council accused of 'complete incompetence' after £86m roads repair bill revealed
Edinburgh City Council would need to spend almost £86m to get the capital’s roads up to a “good state of repair”.
Council bosses in Edinburgh have been accused of “complete incompetence” as it grapples with an £86 million repair bill for the city's crumbling roads, amid fears it will take years to get on top of the problem.
The revelation comes after Edinburgh City Council was forced to make savings to alleviate a budget gap of almost £40m to balance the books for this financial year, helped in part by hiking council tax by 8 per cent and putting up parking charges by around 10 per cent.
The councillor in charge of transport in the city has acknowledged there is “a lot of work ahead”, but has insisted his authority will “continue to do the best we can for the city with the resources we have available”.
The Labour-run administration, which is propped up with the support of Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors, admitted a repair backlog for roads across the city stands at £85.7m, while the estimated cost of maintaining roads in their current condition is £11.3m.
There were 20,852 potholes recorded by council bosses in Edinburgh in 2024, while one crater took almost a year, 342 days, to repair after being initially reported.
Council bosses have admitted that as of the start of May, a total of 56 roads are classed as having defects.
The condition of roads in the city is assessed each year as part of the independent Scottish Roads Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS). The results revealed a slight improvement for 2024, but 29.8 per cent of Edinburgh’s roads are in need of work.
The £85.7m would bring all of Edinburgh’s roads up to a “green” standard, which would mean the surface was “generally in a good state of repair”.
Figures also show the council has paid out more than £150,000 in compensation to drivers for vehicle damage since 2015 for more than 4,100 claims. The number of claims soared from 423 in 2022 to 880 in 2023 and 680 in 2024.
Last year, councillors earmarked an extra £12.5m of investment in which “record delivery was achieved”, according to council officials. More than 460,000m2 of carriageways received treatment.
The council has boasted that capital funding for roads and pavements has increased from £23m in 2024/2 to £26m this financial year, which includes £12m for road works and surface treatment.
But the new figures have shown that extra funding will not counter the backlog.
SNP Edinburgh councillor, Kate Campbell, said the figures demonstrated “complete incompetence”.
She said: “Labour and their Tory and Lib Dem allies have made a lot of noise about their increased investment in roads. But now we discover that there is an enormous £86m backlog of repairs.
“They've spent all this money yet people can't see any improvement. Where on earth has all the money gone? It looks like complete incompetence, once again, from the Labour-led administration.”
Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary and Lothians MPS, Sue Webber, said: “Scotland’s pothole-scarred roads are a damning symbol of SNP failure.
“The SNP have hollowed out Edinburgh Council’s budget. The result is a road network in desperate need of resurfacing, leading to countless taxpayers having their vehicles damaged but not being compensated for the repair costs.
“Nationalist ministers should show some common sense for a change and give local authorities the funding they need to fix Scotland’s crumbling roads.”
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh Western, said: “Under this SNP government, our roads are falling apart.
“Motorists, pedestrians and councils are all paying the price for the SNP’s brutal cuts to local government. Those cuts have made it tougher for councils to plan for the long-term and invest in vital infrastructure.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out plans to fix this: that starts by better supporting local authorities and giving them the fair deal they deserve.”
Stephen Jenkinson, the council’s transport and environment convener, said: “Our residents have made it clear that they want and expect continued investment in our roads network.
“In April we agreed a £25m plus package of road and infrastructure investments for the year ahead and we’re focussed on delivering these improvements.
“This follows on from 2024 where we treated a record 460,000m2 of carriageways and 52,000m2 of footways. Edinburgh’s Road Condition Indicator (RCI), which signifies the percentage of roads that should be considered for investment, also saw the largest single year improvement on record last year.”
He added: “These improvements are even more significant in the context of the profound financial constraints which are impacting local authority budgets across the country.
“I’m conscious that we still have a lot of work ahead. However, I’m confident that we’re on the right track and we’ll continue to do the best we can for the city with the resources we have available.”
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