Dumfries and Galloway Council pays out more than £300k in pothole compensation
Dumfries and Galloway Council forked out more than £300,000 to drivers as a result of pothole damage last year.
And nearly 20,000 potholes were reported to the local authority in 2023/24.
The figures, revealed following a series of information requests by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, show Dumfries and Galloway Council was the Scottish local authority which paid out the most in compensation last year.
More than £4million has been paid out across Scotland in the past five years.
Lib Dems communities spokesperson, Willie Rennie MSP, said: “Under this SNP government, potholes have become a plague on our roads; it’s a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
“As well as causing property damage and personal injury for motorists, it also means that cash-strapped councils are having to shell out millions of pounds in payouts.
“For many years, the SNP have slashed funding for local authorities and left communities to muddle through. Despite payouts for potholes rising year on year, the SNP haven’t shown any sign of changing course and finally supporting councils.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out plans to fix Scotland’s crumbling infrastructure, including cavernous potholes. That starts by better supporting local authorities and giving them the fair deal they deserve.”
The data provided by the local authorities which responded to the Liberal Democrats show that £870,000 was paid out in compensation in 2023/24.
Dumfries and Galloway Council’s share of that was £326,000 – well ahead of the second highest council area, Glasgow, which forked out nearly £200,000.
The Dumfries and Galloway figure was considerably up on 22/23, when motorists received just under £200,000. Over the past five years, £765,000 has been paid out.
The data also reveals that 19,810 potholes were reported in Dumfries and Galloway last year – a huge jump from 13,435 in 2022/23. Only Aberdeen and Glasgow City Councils reported more potholes in 2023/24.
A council spokesman said: "Improving the state of our region’s roads is a priority for our council, involving a multi-year planned programme of works. This includes inspection and repair of reported defects.
"Our new customer defect reporting system encourages customers to report and log details of any issues affecting our roads, pavements, streetlighting and other structures across the region.
"When a road defect is reported, our council’s roads service will check whether a recent inspection has been carried out. If a recent inspection has not been carried out, then we will inspect the defect within 20 working days of its report and categorise the defect based on several critical factors to determine its urgency."
Defects are reviewed and classified according to whether there is a risk to public safety, the size and depth of the pothole, the type, speed, and volume of traffic on the road, the road alignment and visibility and the location of the damage.
The spokesman added: "This approach enables us to use our resources efficiently, aiming for maximum safety and infrastructure reliability across the region."
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is up to individual local authorities to manage day-to- day decision-making and allocate the total financial resources available on the basis of local needs and priorities.
“We recognise the crucial role councils and their employees play in communities across Scotland.
“That’s why this year the Scottish Government has made available over £14billion to local councils.
“That is a real-terms increase of 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year.”