LABOUR has called on the Scottish Government to end a five-month delay in publishing the findings of a review into the work of the quango in charge of overseeing the nation's roadworks.
The independent review of Scotland's taxpayer-funded "cone tsar", the Scottish Road Works Commissioner, was announced in November 2015 by then-Transport Minister, Derek Mackay.
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The findings were originally due in March but the publication was subsequently pushed back to July.
To date nothing has been published.
It comes after a report by Audit Scotland showing that a third of local roads were in a poor condition, four years on from a previous report by the public spending watchdog which highlighted exactly the same figure. It also warned that the situation was likely to worsen amid looming cuts to council funding.
Meanwhile, Scotland's motorways have deteriorated, with a quarter now considered in need of repair.
Daniel Johnson, Labour MSP for Edinburgh, said: “We all know that the state of Scotland’s roads are in reverse due to massive cuts made by the Scottish Government to our local councils.
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“And we know a big reason for the poor road surfaces are utilities companies ripping up the roads, and not returning them to the same standard they were before – only to have that same road dug up again by a different company a few weeks later. It is a nightmare for cyclists, motorists and local residents.
“The Scottish Road Works Commissioner is meant to help solve that problem by co-ordinating works and implementing fines when things go wrong, but at the moment it isn’t working. The Scottish Government is stalling on the report to get it sorted.
"The Government must end the delay and get Scotland moving again.”
The quango was set up in 2005 to police firms responsible for shoddy and delayed roadworks, but came under fire for imposing just £208,000 in fines despite costing the public purse £3 million.
It has also been criticised for failing to report on its work since 2013, blaming a lack of leadership.
Elspeth King quit as the Commissioner in May 2015, just three years into her five-year term. Angus Carmichael was appointed on a temporary basis last August.
Transport Scotland said it had invested £6.5 billion in trunk roads since 2007 and delivered improvements to 235 miles of carriageway in the last year.
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A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: "We are considering the consultant's report and hope to publish that soon along with [the Commissioner's] response to its recommendations."
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