Ministers are considering asking the roads liaison group to examine the scope for preventing a reoccurrence of the ongoing shortage of rock salt. This has forced councils to ration salt by only treating primary routes, and to spend more on alternatives, including table salt (Surveyor, 12 February).
The news came as the Commons transport select committee, concerned by the level of disruption to transport services recent adverse weather caused, announced a parliamentary probe.
Matthew Lugg, chair of the UK Roads Board, said: ‘There is a need for a review, given the seriousness of what we’ve been in very real danger of – highway authorities running out of salt and being unable to treat primary roads.’
The London borough of Hammersmith & Fulham ran out on the morning of 2 February, as snow continued to fall, but had its supplies replenished after the Highways Agency gave London an additional 480t on Monday evening for a number of boroughs running low.
There were authorities in Southwest England and Wales which reported having only two days’ worth of salt left. Gloucestershire County Council had resorted to buying 500t of table salt at three times the cost of rock salt.
Lugg, who will be giving evidence to the Commons, said the difficulty in obtaining salt after stocks ran low was the main issue. He said the roads liaison group could usefully examine whether a system was needed to continually monitor national salt levels, whether there should be regional stockpiles, and if the reliance on one supplier, Salt Union, could be overcome.
The Government is aiming for all councils to have seven days’ worth of salt by this week.
AA spokesman Paul Watters called for ‘central overview and control’ on salt supply as the Government started to work out how much salt the UK would need to have by October, England and Wales’ new winter maintenance season.
