Whether it (a) has or (b) has had plans to introduce a loan fund for communities seeking to upgrade roads to a standard that would allow th…

The Scottish Government has not introduced a loan fund specifically for communities seeking to upgrade roads to an adoptable standard and has no current plans to establish one for this purpose.The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 ("the 1984 Act") places the statutory responsibility for local roads, including private roads, with local road authorities. While local road authorities are responsible for the improvement, maintenance and repair of public roads on its list of roads, section 14 of the 1984 Act
- Power to contribute to, or carry out, work on private roads, enables them to contribute to the maintenance of private roads. Whether there are funds available to assist in any particular case is a matter for the relevant local roads authority. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2016-17 is over £10.3 billion. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities. You may find the Communities Channel Scotland Website (www.communityscot.org.uk/resources/grow-your-community) helpful, funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by the Scottish Community Development Centre, it has useful information for community groups, including information on funding and support. You will also find links to other Community Funds on the Scottish Government website here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/communityfunds.