I was happy to be out and about in Port Ellen recently catching up with my constituents and listening to their concerns.

Poor roads and pavements along with broken street lights were understandably high on the list of priorities. While there has been some noticeable success in securing additional funding for roads on Islay, Jura and across the Kintyre and Islands ward, much more needs to be done.

It is true that investment continues to reap rewards in Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay with a halt to some deterioration in the overall condition of the roads that are at least showing marginal improvement.

Argyll and Bute remains in the top five fastest improving Scottish Local Authorities in terms of road condition. The Annual Status and Options Report (ASOR) summarises the council’s road assets as at April 2018 and sets out future options that can be considered in terms of investment.

The latest Road Condition Indicator (RCI) Survey shows that a smaller percentage of roads (16.10%) are flagged as in a ‘red’ condition and 45.83% are in the green zone. Road condition is measured by the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS) which assesses parameters such as surface texture and cracking, smoothness and rutting.

Since February 2018, additional investment in roads has prioritised cost effective treatments that will cover more surface area, seal cracks and prevent water penetration. This work protects previous investment until more robust treatments can be afforded.

With so much tax revenue continuing to leave Islay and Jura amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds each year my constituents are understandably angry with this massive and ongoing imbalance between what the tax revenue bread baskets of Islay and Jura produce and the small crumbs of funding we receive in return.