Letters: Road defects report does not reflect whole story

We at Edinburgh City Council fully acknowledge that there is still some way to go to make Edinburgh's roads and pavements as safe and well-maintained as they should be, which is why one of our major priorities is to improve the quality of our roads infrastructure.

Potholes have not quadrupled according to Lesley McInnes

However, your article (‘City pothole problem has quadrupled in two years’, News October 24) doesn’t present an accurate picture of the situation. The figures shown in the table as ‘number of potholes reported’ in fact represent all reported road defects rather than solely potholes.

Furthermore, the figure under 2014 only dates from August 2014, when our new Confirm system was introduced to help make it easier for people to report road defects.

Through making improvements to the way we inspect and repair our roads, the number of ‘category 1’ and ‘category 2’ road defects – ie those which pose the greatest risk to road users – has dropped significantly. This is because better information coming in through Confirm allows our defects repair squads to target higher risk defects more effectively.

Back in August, we approved a new Roads Improvement Plan to drive up standards still further. A report updating on progress will come before the Transport and Environment Committee in December and we look forward to seeing the plan taking effect and improving roads and pavements across the Capital.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport Convener, Edinburgh City Council, City Chambers