(S3O-10561) Roads (Argyll and Bute)

3. Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): Thank you, old Etonian—I mean, Presiding Officer.

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to improve the Argyll and Bute road network. (S3O-10561)

The Presiding Officer: Yes, I too attended that school.

The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):

Members may wish to know that I went to Bell Baxter high school, which was the local school in Cupar.

More than £3 million has already been invested by the Government in the trunk road network in Argyll and Bute in financial year 2009-10. That investment has resulted in a number of initiatives, including road resurfacing on the A83 and work to mitigate the risk of future landslides in the area. We also plan to invest a further £6 million in a range of trunk road structural maintenance and safety improvements that will support safety and economic objectives and aspirations for the area.

Jamie McGrigor: Despite that, the headline in today's edition of The Oban Times & West Highland Times states "Argyll and Bute has the worst roads in Scotland". The annual road conditions survey shows Argyll and Bute Council as 32nd out of the 32 councils and suggests that councils' road budgets would need to rise by £45 million just to keep the roads in their present condition. Argyll and Bute Council's transport spokesman Councillor Duncan MacIntyre said:

"The council needs £100 million ... just to get the roads up to an acceptable standard."

Quite apart from the discomfort and danger suffered by local people, the tourism industry is suffering, especially in areas such as the Isle of Mull where the local joke—

The Presiding Officer: A question, please.

Jamie McGrigor: Presiding Officer, my question is this. Will the Scottish Government accept that Argyll and Bute is a special case and do something about it?

Stewart Stevenson: Argyll and Bute is a very special place. Indeed, it is the only place in Scotland where, in 1956, I suffered sunstroke.

Apart from that, I draw the member's attention to the 1.9 per cent increase in funding that Argyll and Bute Council has received for the current year. Councillor Duncan MacIntyre is an extremely able and competent councillor who, as a member of Highlands and Islands transport partnership—HITRANS—will, I am sure, be able to discharge his local government responsibilities for improving the roads in Argyll and Bute. We have provided the resources; he must take the action.