The Office of the Scottish Road Works Commissioner (OSRWC), which aims to improve the planning, co-ordination and quality of road works throughout Scotland, has released a new report that slams both BT and Virgin Media for having the highest failure rate of all companies.

According to the latest study from OSRWC's Roads Authorities and Utilities Committee (Scotland), which was tasked with investigating the quality of road repairs conducted by utility firms, some 26% of all works tested failed their inspections. By contrast that figure rises to 37% for broadband operators BT and Virgin Media UK.


The Herald Scotland newspaper notes that such failings could attract a maximum penalty of up to £50,000 if "the step change being sought has not been achieved". In reality this would only be a drop in the ocean to both operators, which claim to be improving.



Utility firms will certainly need to be extra cautious about any road works they perform over the next few years. The government's public spending cuts has made it much more likely to pursue firms that damage and then fail to correctly repair the states critical infrastructure.