Wednesday March 11th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Editor, Phil Bowen
Scottish Labour and Co-operative candidate for Midlothian North, Caitlin Stott, has said that a Scottish Labour government will fix potholes in Midlothian North.
Scottish Labour has set out new plans for a £350 million pothole fund that they say is expecting to fix nearly 5 million potholes across Scotland over the next five years.
Caitlin Stott has said this will be a “game-changer” for Midlothian.
The funding would be repurposed from the active and sustainable travel budget, and it would be backed up by stronger oversight mechanisms and greater preventative maintenance to improve the condition of roads in the long term.
Caitlin Stott said the “sorry state” of Midlothian’s roads is an example of how the SNP can’t get the basics right.
Scottish Labour has previously said that spending on local roads has reduced by 13 per cent since 2010-11 as a result of SNP cuts to Council budgets.
In Midlothian, they say 37% per cent of roads are in need of either further investigation or repair.
Caitlin Stott said
“After nearly 20 years of SNP government, roads in Midlothian are in a sorry state and potholes are causing misery on a daily basis. It’s an issue that comes up again and again when I speak to people throughout Midlothian and it’s clear people here are sick and tired of the situation.
“The SNP has cut Council budgets to the bone and we are all paying the price.
“This hopeless SNP government cannot even get the basics right anymore.
“Scottish Labour will fix the SNP’s mess and repair the roads in Midlothian North with our new pothole fund.
“This funding will be a game-changer for Midlothian, which has been let down by the SNP for too long.
“In May we have a choice – more of the same with John Swinney and the SNP or a better future for Midlothian with a Scottish Labour government.”
Scottish Labour’s potholes plan will repurpose £350 million over five years from the active and sustainable transport budget to fix Scotland’s roads.
In doing so they say an average of £70m of funding will be repurposed annually to improve road surfaces for all road users, including cyclists and sustainable travel users.
Scottish Labour will protect funding intended for bus infrastructure investment but restoring road maintenance will be a priority for a Scottish Labour government to protect all road users from harm caused by crumbling roads and reducing the compensation paid out by local authorities for damage caused by potholes. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24 councils paid out £4.2m in compensation.
According to AsphaltUK the average cost of filling in potholes elsewhere in the UK in 2024/25 was £72.40 should similar costs apply in Scotland a £350m fund would fund the repair of 4.83 million potholes.
According to the Local Government Benchmarking Framework since 2010/11 there has been a 13% fall in local government spending on roads.
Scottish Labour will also take action to improve road maintenance to prevent roads falling into such disrepair in the first place.
As well as commissioning the first national audit of Scotland’s roads since 2016, they say they will enhance inspections and enforce tougher fines on utilities that damage roads bundling road and utility repairs, and using Section 58 protections for new roads. Scottish Labour say they will also cut red tape and limit the delays from objections to Traffic Regulation Orders, which routinely delay works by 18 months.
Scottish Labour will also abolish the Office of the Scottish Roadworks Commissioner and bring the Roadworks Registry under Transport Scotland control. They will set a minimum repair/road standard, to protect public money and deliver better long-term investment in Scotland’s roads, and will trial and assess innovative repair methods, including thermal road repairs, trenchless technologies, surface dressing and self-healing asphalt.
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