Q&A on council grit and salt supplies

LGA press release - 13 January 2010

BACKGROUND INFORMATIONAL NOTE: Q&A ON COUNCIL SALT SUPPLIES AND THE FREEZING WEATHER

Wednesday 13 January 2010

What is the latest position with salt supplies?

Ministers decided yesterday to economise use of the nation’s salt supplies by between 40 and 50 per cent in aggregate compared to the levels of usage before last Friday’s announcement. 

The whole country is seeing the worst cold weather in 30 years and we need to work together to conserve salt stocks. Some parts of the country have suffered a sustained cold snap for almost a month. This is the most prolonged spell of freezing conditions across the country since 1981, and it is inevitable that some strain will be placed on salt stocks. 

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said yesterday: “In aggregate, these measures will need to conserve between 40 and 50 per cent compared to the levels of usage before Friday’s announcement.  On this basis we expect salt supplies to be sustainable throughout the period of snow and extreme cold weather.  Salt will continue to be targeted to the areas where there is most need.” 

How does Salt Cell work?

Last week, the Department for Transport convened ‘Salt Cell’, which provides advice to the salt companies on how to prioritise their deliveries and facilitate mutual aid agreements. It recommended to the Department for Transport last Friday that councils and the Highways Agency reduce their salt use by 25 per cent. 

Salt Cell is convened by the Department for Transport and includes the Cabinet Office, the LGA, the Highways Agency and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales. It assesses which areas of the country need salt the most and makes recommendations to the suppliers accordingly. Salt Cell’s decisions are not binding on the salt companies or individual local authorities. 

Salt Cell met last Wednesday, Friday and yesterday (Tuesday). It will meet again on Friday.

What has been the affect of the 25 per cent reduction in usage?

The 25 per cent reduction has included:

1)      Restricting treatment to published priority road networks only
2)      Reducing treatment to a smaller ‘resilience network’ should further conservation of salt be needed
3)      Where they have not done so, reducing the rate of salt use in treatments
4)      For minor roads and where snow has already settled, using grit only whereever possible, to break up snow and ice
5)      Stepping up their commitment to share salt with neighbouring councils. 

The local road network is generally divided up by councils into three priority levels:  

•           Priority one routes: main A roads, key routes for emergency services and essential supplies
•           Priority two routes: B roads providing access routes into villages
•           Priority three routes: C roads and country lanes

 What will the impact be of a further reduction?

Tough decisions will have to be made about which roads are gritted. Councils will want to ensure that key roads are kept clear so that people can get to hospitals, schools and access services. 

It is vital that drivers continue to take extreme care on the roads and check their council’s website for which roads are being gritted. The safety of the travelling public is vitally important and this will be reflected in the measures councils take to conserve salt. 

What is a mutual aid agreement?

If a council is running low on salt, it can enter into a mutual aid agreement with a neighbouring authority that has larger supplies – or the Highways Agency – to ensure everyone has enough. 

Has the bad weather caused more pot holes?

Potholes caused by the recent severe weather conditions are beginning to appear across the country’s road network and councils are taking every step necessary to identify problem areas and ensure public safety.

The worst conditions in 30 years have left roads exposed to a condition known as “freeze-thaw”, which damages the roads in wet and particularly freezing conditions. Water in cracks in the road expands into ice causing the surface of the road to break up and deeper than usual potholes to form.

The public is being asked to urgently report any defects they spot to their local authority so that they can fix them as quickly as possible.

A record number of potholes were filled last year, with councils mending a hole in the road, on average, every 33 seconds, according to new analysis published by the Local Government Association.

Last year, as an average across the country, councils filled 968,195 potholes. According to the figures, while councils spent an extra £10.9 million last year filling potholes, they cut the amount being paid out in road user compensation claims by almost a third, or £17.8 million, saving taxpayers £6.9 million. 
 
Why have so many schools had to close?

It is either a headteacher or the local council which makes the decision to close a school – and it is not a decision taken lightly. Advice from the emergency services will be considered, as will the weather forecast. Reasons to close a school include dangerous road conditions in the local area, a shortage of teaching staff or problems with vital supplies such as heating or water.

Why have rubbish collections been delayed?

Councils have been collecting residents’ bins as normal, wherever possible, but the public’s safety always comes first. Sending a 26 tonne dustcart down an icy residential street packed with cars and pedestrians is extremely dangerous.

Where collections have been missed, they will be made up at the earliest possible opportunity, for example at weekends. Council staff across the country have been working night and day to clear roads and keep people safe. 

In some areas, collections of regular household waste will be prioritised over the collection of recycling, which does not rot. When outside temperatures are colder than a domestic freezer, there is absolutely no risk to public health by rubbish being left out for a short while longer than normal.

The Federation of Small Businesses has said there should now be talks between councils, the transport authorities, salt mining companies and schools to find solutions to deal with adverse weather. What does the LGA think?

Reports from the UK Roads Liaison Group and the Local Government Association reviewed these issues last summer and councils prepared for this winter, but with the worst conditions in 30 years, services will inevitably be stretched whatever reasonable preparations were made. 

As these reviews concluded, businesses also have a role in limiting the disruptive impact by knowing what to do and altering their behaviour including driving patterns and arrangements to work from home in the event of severe weather. 

Businesses’ continuity planning processes should include policies on extreme weather events, so that employees know how to respond and disruption to business is limited.  

Many employers do have business continuity arrangements in place to prepare for unpredicted events. This should include a policy for severe weather so that employees know what to expect and can make their own contingency arrangements if their normal travel plans are disrupted. For many businesses where employment is not location-dependent, having in place arrangements so that people can work from home is an important way in which disruption to businesses, and their bottom line, could be minimised as well as reducing the number of journeys attempted in treacherous weather conditions. 

During the severe weather in February, those businesses that were equipped with appropriate mobile business technology to enable their employees to continue working and day-to-day operations to continue suffered less than those less well equipped.

Should councils have kept more salt in stock?

Councils learned the lessons from the bad weather last February and started planning as far back as the summer to ensure they had sufficient supplies of salt in stock. In making these decisions about how much to stockpile, councils have to take into account the cost of the grit itself, and also the storage costs, maintaining the warehouses and security. The Met Office originally predicted that there was only a one in seven chance of a cold winter in 2009/10.

Last month, the government recommended that councils should have enough salt to last six days of cold weather. It is clear, now that the cold snap is into its third week and no councils have yet run out of salt, that they were well prepared.

What roads are councils responsible for and how do they decide which routes to prioritise for gritting?

Councils are responsible for nine out of every ten miles of road in the country. There are roughly 250,000 miles of road in the UK. The Highways Agency is responsible for motorways and major A roads, while Transport for London is responsible for arterial trunk roads in the capital.  

Councils know their local areas and draw up carefully considered plans to make sure that they are able to cope when freezing temperatures hit. They prioritise routes that are important for public transport and for the emergency services.

Most councils publish their plans for dealing with severe weather on their websites. If anyone feels that a road is not being gritted that should be, they should contact their local council or councillor - and should check their council's website to see which roads in their area are still being treated.

Which councils are responsible for gritting the roads?

County councils, unitary authorities, London boroughs and Metropolitan authorities are responsible for road gritting. They make up 150 out of 353 councils in England. District councils do not grit the roads.

Where do councils get their salt from?

Most of the salt is mined in Cheshire. The main supplier is Salt Union. Cleveland Potash, in Middlesbrough, produces salt as a by-product of its main operations.

What is road grit?

The most common material used to treat road surfaces prior to freezing conditions is rock salt. Rock salt is mined from underground mines. It is a brown colour because it is unrefined so it is often mistakenly referred to as grit.

How does gritting the road work? 

Salt works by lowering the temperature at which water freezes. It relies on the action of vehicle tyres to be spread over the road, so requires traffic to be effective.

Can it get too cold for salt to work?

Yes. Salt will work at temperatures down to minus 8-10 degrees C. Below that salted roads will still freeze.

Why do councils need to keep on gritting roads?

Rain or snow will wash the salt away leaving roads prone to re-icing. So, salting ideally needs to take place after rain but before freezing

Don’t councils put grit on the roads as well as salt?

Stone grit is only usually used on hardpacked snow and ice. In conditions where snow has already settled, grit can be mixed with salt to provide traction and help break up frozen surfaces.

What is pre-wetted salt?

Pre-wetted salt is salt that is mixed with water. It can come in a number of different forms and works at similar temperatures to rock salt.  The advantages to pre-wetted salt are that it can be spread more evenly and more quickly, cutting salt usage by up to 25 per cent, and it gets to work faster as it doesn’t have to dissolve first. But the equipment needed to spread the material is more expensive.

Can you use any other sorts of salt to grit the roads? 

Pad white salt – a waste product of table salt - can also be used as a de-icer, but it is more expensive and needs to be used in combination with rock salt and grit.

Some highways authorities also combine molasses, an agricultural by-product, with rock salt. This material is more expensive, but improves adhesion so that more of the salt mixture ends up on the road surface rather than spraying onto verges.

Other materials that help provide traction, such as sand can be effective in breaking up ice and providing traction, but most highways authorities do not consider them as suitable for use on roads.

Other materials including potash or potassium chloride can also be effective as a de-icer, but is much more expensive, less widely available than salt and there are technical issues in spreading techniques that need to be overcome.

How much do councils spend on this?

In 2007/08 the winter maintenance budget for councils, which includes gritting and salting, was £185million.

What are councils doing to ensure other essential services are provided during the severe weather?

Different councils are responding in different ways depending on what their priorities are. Some, including Gloucestershire and Sandwell, have set up helpline numbers for people struggling to cope at home, particularly if they are elderly, so they can get advice and extra help as easily as possible.

Where bin collections have been missed because of the bad weather, councils are arranging extra collections - for example Telford and Wrekin is sending trucks to four borough car parks so residents can bring along excess waste.

Councils providing adult social care have been diverting 4x4s from other services, such as parks and gardens, to help transport carers to people's homes and deliver meals-on-wheels... Wokingham Borough Council's pest controller hasn't been able to do his day-to-day job so has been driving carers around.

ends

Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: LGA Media Office, Tel:020 7664 3333