Decision details

 The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Keith Iddon, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport; Phil Barrett, Director of Community Services; Ridwan Musa, Highways Manager West; Paul Binks, Highways Asset Manager; Ingrid Bidle, Core Business Support Manager (HAMS Project); and County Councillor Joe Cooney representing the Winter Gritting Service – Grit Bin Provision Task and Finish Group.

County Councillor Cooney informed the Committee that the task group had met twice and was looking at the provision of grit bins and also the service of gritting secondary routes. The review of existing grit bin provision was looking to see what condition the grit bins were in and if they were in the right location.

At the Internal Scrutiny Committee in November 2017 some actions were raised regarding the Highways Winter Service Plan.

Members had requested access to the gritter tracking system for all county councillors. Members were informed that the tracking system complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and was therefore only available for essential users and operational purposes, so access was not available to county councillors.

Members had requested that the Highways Team's twitter feeds on gritting events included more information. They were informed that there was a limited amount of characters that could be included in the twitter feeds and the Highways Team was legally advised about the information it provided. Members requested to view the legal advice that had been given to the Highways Team.

Regarding the Winter Service Review 2017/2018 it was noted that the Winter Maintenance Service was provided in line with the Winter Service Plan. Rotas were managed to ensure there was full coverage. Preparations for 2018/2019 were already in place. Rotas were being developed and vehicles were being serviced.

The Committee was advised that there was a proposal to change the gritting trigger level from plus 1 degree to plus 0.5 degree. This would be detailed in a report to go to Cabinet in August. If it was approved, this would be the only change to the Winter Service Plan for the 2018/2019 season.  Members raised concerns as to whether this would cause delays to gritting on the primary routes which would then impact on the potential to grit secondary routes that feed on to the primary routes.

Resolved: That;

  i.  The content of the report presented be noted.

  ii.  The task and finish group relating to grit bin assessment and provision is currently in progress and will report back to the service be noted.

  iii.  The treatment intervention level proposal be reviewed by the Grit Bin task and finish group.

  iv.  Legal advice be sought on the gritter tracking system and twitter feed.

  v.  Thanks be given to the Highways Team for the work done over the winter 2017/2018.