Scott Grant, Vice Chair of CIHT Scotland, has called for greater funding certainty, coordinated maintenance and investment in resilience, highlighting how long-term planning can support a more effective transport network. 

Giving evidence to the Scottish Transport Committee on 4 November 2026, Grant outlined the challenges facing infrastructure delivery, including single-year budgets, skills shortages, maintenance pressures, and extreme weather. 

A pipeline is aspirational without funding.

Grant explained that a fully funded, multi-year programme would give the sector the confidence to invest in people, equipment and innovation, supporting projects from their earliest development stages through to construction. 

Single-year funding models makes it very difficult for both public and private sector to plan any investment in infrastructure.

Funding certainty to improve delivery 

Grant’s evidence reinforces CIHT’s recommendation for rolling five-year funding settlements for local highway maintenance. 

CIHT’s Unlocking the Benefits of Long-Term Funding for Local Roads briefing identifies potential efficiencies of 5–10% when five-year settlements are combined with improved working practices. Although the briefing’s financial estimates relate to England, Grant’s evidence highlights the relevance of funding certainty to Scotland’s infrastructure challenges. 

He also warned that uncertainty has consequences for workforce capacity. Experienced transport professionals are moving into the energy and water sectors, where greater confidence in future investment and higher salaries are attracting senior project management and leadership expertise. 

This concern aligns with CIHT’s call for strategic investment in technical skills and expertise at a local level, set out in its Autumn Budget 2026 submission. 

Looking beyond potholes 

Grant urged a broader approach to maintenance, bringing together work on road surfaces, drainage, signs and other assets rather than treating each problem separately. 

Being able to have a holistic view across asset classes and deal with that maintenance in one intervention, or a series of planned interventions under a total closure, is a much more efficient way of working. 

He also stressed that attention must extend to footways, recognising both their importance to people using the network and the consequences of poor condition. 

His evidence reflects CIHT’s position that sustained funding and preventative asset management are needed to move away from reactive repairs and support a more resilient and inclusive transport network. 

Building resilience before disruption occurs 

Grant called for dedicated, ringfenced resilience funding to address vulnerabilities before disruptive events occur, as well as supporting recovery afterwards. 

Referring to the A83 and the difficulties caused by lengthy diversion routes, he highlighted the importance of identifying critical pinch points and understanding the wider economic consequences of disruption. He also reminded the committee that roads often carry essential utilities beneath them, meaning infrastructure failures can affect more than transport alone. 

This closely aligns with CIHT’s Delivering a resilient transport network report, which recommends mandatory resilience assessments to identify vulnerabilities, prioritise action and account for interdependent infrastructure, including utilities. CIHT’s Autumn Budget submission also calls for a dedicated fund for highways projects in areas vulnerable to extreme weather. 

Connecting transport investment with wider benefits 

Grant emphasised that investment decisions should consider the benefits of walking, cycling and better connections to public transport, particularly for short journeys and access to railway stations. 

There is a wider benefit to that modal shift than just purely carbon

That message reflects CIHT’s recommendations for consistent funding for walking, wheeling and cycling networks, alongside its research positioning active travel as a public health tool with economic and environmental benefits. 

Across his evidence, Grant reinforced the connection between funding certainty and delivery: enabling the sector to retain expertise, plan maintenance efficiently and invest before infrastructure problems become more costly.  

His contribution brings a Scottish perspective to CIHT’s wider recommendations for a transport network supported by sustained investment, preventative maintenance and long-term planning. 

Scott Grant’s evidence to the Scottish Transport Committee is available to read here.  

CIHT looks forward to working with the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Transport Committee to ensure that the nation’s highways and infrastructure is fit for the future and supports improvements environmentally, socially, and economically.