Winter maintenance review to inform 2016/17 policy

Members of The Highland Council’s Community Services Committee have considered a benchmarking exercise on the Council’s existing winter maintenance service which provided a comparison to six other neighbouring Scottish local authorities.

The benchmarking exercise was undertaken on the Council’s current winter maintenance policy for the financial year 2015/16 which was approved by the Council in December 2014.

Gritting priority route maps of primary and secondary routes are currently being considered by local Members at Area Committees for implementation from 1 October 2015 to 30 April 2016. These gritting priorities and routes maps will be set within the existing budget, resources and £240,000 savings (including 6 vehicles and 6 staff) as agreed by the Council in December 2014.

Members agreed that a full review of the Council’s winter maintenance policy (including the option of starting some routes on the service at 5am and an assessment of how the current route policy is implemented) is brought to a future committee meeting.  This review will help to inform and influence the Council’s 2016/17 winter maintenance policy.