Severe Weather (Transport and Public Services)

I thank the Minister for advance notice of his statement. Like the Minister, I pay tribute to all the councils, council workers, salt producers, the armed forces, the police and others who are working so hard to try and keep the country moving during the present crisis. We should remember that many communities have had three solid weeks of this, without the brief respite over Christmas that much of the south-east enjoyed. Everyone accepts that a degree of disruption is inevitable with such extreme weather, but the Government have important questions to answer about the adequacy of the preparations that they made for the weather episode. It is not acceptable for the Government just to pass the buck to local authorities. Will the Government accept their share of responsibility for the current shortage of gritting salt, particularly in the light of the fact that the Government's Salt Cell now controls allocations of salt across the country? What are the local salt stocks now held in the UK, and how long will they last? Which areas in need have the lowest stocks? Does the Minister have any estimate of the proportion of roads and pavements that have not been gritted or cleared? Have our armed services got all the salt that they need? Should the NHS be included in the Salt Cell to help ensure that hospitals and emergency services have access to all the salt that they need? Why did it take until last week to relax drivers' hours, when these problems have been ongoing for nearly a month? The media have reported a recent diversion of exported salt to use in this country. What other exports have taken place since the cold weather episode began, and why were steps not taken more quickly to divert exports back for UK use? Why is Salt Cell not meeting today, given the urgency of the situation? What estimate has the Minister made of the cost of repairing the damage to the roads caused by the freezing conditions? Does he agree that it is wholly contrary to common sense if people feel at risk of negligence claims when they clear paths and pavements? Is that not penalising the sort of socially responsible behaviour that all parties should encourage? Is he aware that anxiety about liability was one reason why many schools stayed shut? The Government accused us of scaremongering about gas supplies, but if everything is fine with energy supplies why did National Grid issue its fourth alert in two weeks today? The Local Government Association, in its July report, "Weathering the Storm: Dealing with Adverse Winter Weather Conditions in the UK", concluded with the key lesson that should have been learned from last February's weather crisis and low salt supplies. It stated:""Effectively, the country is almost completely reliant on two main suppliers operating deliveries on a 'just in time' basis."" Will the Minister acknowledge that the Government's failure to heed that warning meant that many councils found it almost impossible to obtain resupplies as the cold snap progressed? Will he accept that the scarcity of salt supplies has undermined councils' ability to grit and clear side roads and pavements? Will he acknowledge the extent of the concern about slippery pavements—shown particularly by the elderly, many of whom have felt reluctant to leave their homes for the past few weeks? The Secretary of State's requests for councils to reduce their daily use of salt by 25 per cent. was an admission of failure by the Government. They made inadequate preparations for the cold weather; they sat on the LGA's report on the issue until two days before the snow started to fall; and they failed to learn the lessons of February 2009, leaving our road network far more vulnerable to disruption than it should have been—to the detriment of families and businesses throughout the country, already struggling with the impact of one of the longest and deepest recessions in modern history.