Gritting, snow clearing and looking after the most vulnerable are all at risk because of relentless budget cuts

By Bill Heaney

The snow is stubbornly refusing to fall here in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll – despite the yellow weather warnings constantly being broadcast on the media.

However, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance, has assured MSPs that we are more than ready to cope with an arctic blast. If ever it arrives.

She said: “The preparation for and response to severe weather in Scotland involves a wide range of partners, including emergency services, health boards, local authorities and utility companies, which have a responsibility to plan and prepare for the winter season. In recent months, partners’ plans have been thoroughly tested by exercises and by a number of storms, and I record my thanks, here in Parliament, for the work that responders do during these testing times.”

She assured Conservative Stephen Kerr who commented: “In the teeth of freezing weather, more people are becoming more reliant on local government services, which, the Accounts Commission tells us, have had a £725 million shortfall in funding.

“Gritting, snow clearing and looking after the most vulnerable residents are all at risk because of the Scottish Government’s relentless budget cuts.

“Has the cabinet secretary made any assessment of how budget cuts have impacted on Scotland’s overall resilience? Does the cabinet secretary think that the response by front-line services to bad weather will be made better or worse by those cuts?”

Ms Constance told him: “Local government and other partners provide vital services, particularly during the winter months. I would hope that this Government continues to prioritise public services, despite more than a decade of austerity from the UK Government, and following the autumn budget statement, which represented the worst-case scenario for public services.

“With regard to gritting in particular. I reassure him that strategic salt stocks are available to support national resilience. Transport Scotland leads the Scottish salt group, and Mr Kerr may be interested to know that there is a stockpile of rock salt of 110,000 tonnes [on the east coat].

“As for the resources held by local authorities, they have stockpiles of nearly 500,000 tonnes of salt at their disposal. I think that we can therefore say that we are in a good state of preparedness for winter.”

Stephen Kerr, right, doubted this. He said: “I do not think that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the chief executives and the leaders of Scotland’s 32 local authorities would agree with her assessment of the recent budget proposals.

“I return to the issue of vulnerable people as, in that respect, the Scottish Government is itself very much on the front line. I refer specifically to cold weather payments.

“A pensioner living in Penrith would have been eligible for £75 so far this year, with more money to come if the weather continues to be as cold as it is, whereas a pensioner in Polmont, in my constituency, will receive only £55 in total.

“Why does the cabinet secretary think that we do not need higher cold weather payments here in Scotland than those that people receive in England? Will she urgently review the absurd policy of not paying out cold weather payments based on temperature?”

Angela Constance replied: “This Government continues to do everything that we can, within our powers, to address the important points that he makes about fuel poverty. It is a shame that his colleagues in the Government south of the border do not do likewise.”

“On front-line services, the Scottish Government works very closely with COSLA, and we jointly produced the winter plan to address concerns for vulnerable adults.”

Stein Connelly, of Transport Scotland, keeping public in touch with the traffic news.

She added: “The Scottish Government and our partners go to extensive efforts to ensure that good information is publicly available. I point the member to the Ready Scotland website and to information on social media channels, such as that produced by Transport Scotland and Police Scotland, where they will receive regular updates.

“It is imperative that we all ensure that, as individuals and as households, we do everything that we can to prepare for the weather that comes our way.

“Although it is outwith my powers to always accurately predict the weather, I assure MSPs that Transport Scotland’s multi-agency response team was stood up this morning at 6 o’clock, and that will continue throughout today.

“It is a multi-agency team that works particularly closely with Police Scotland to monitor and respond to any situation and to avert difficulties as far as possible by providing good information and doing everything that we can safely to keep our roads open. As of this morning, all our major trunk roads remain open.”