Highways: Winter Maintenance (Hansard, 7 January 2003)

§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)

Government funding is provided for local authority highways maintenance through the formula grant distribution system. Grant is not ring-fenced for any particular service; spending decisions are a matter for local authorities.

The grant distribution formulae include one reflecting the relative costs of highway maintenance. The proposed new formula for 2003–04 includes a predicted gritting days indicator, which is an assessment of the average number of days where gritting is required for the authority. Data used for this assessment come from the Meteorological Office Open Road Index (MOORI). This is a retrospective forecast of the number of days on which gritting (or salting) would have been required at individual weather stations. The forecast is based on a number of variables, not just temperature. Further information can be found on the Internet at http://www.local.dtlr.gov.uk/finance/0304/grant.htm.

The proposed indicator was created using data from a number of weather stations that were chosen to represent the distribution of roads within the authorities' areas. Data from the stations were averaged to obtain a figure to represent the average annual number of days where gritting would have been predicted. This figure was used for the "predicted gritting days" indicator. A table showing the weather stations used for highways authorities in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire has been placed in the House of Lords Library. A table showing weather stations used for all authorities in 183WA England can also be found as at the internet address above.

Predicted gritting days were not used in the calculation of revenue support grant for 2002–03.