Redlands Liberal Democrats

Christmas Message

Well it's been one of the busiest run-ups to Christmas ever for Kirsten, Glenn and I.

I'm posting this a little later than planned!

It's been a busy old year for us too and we're we all looking forward to a bit of a rest over the Christmas holiday period.

It's time for us to hang up our clipboards, mobile phones, keyboards, to spend some quality time with family and friends.

2009 has been a difficult time for many people in Reading struggling to cope with the impact of the recession and lately extreme weather.

Thanks for all your good wishes - they really are appreciated. Politicians are people too ;-)

We'd like to wish all our constituents and readers of this Blog a very merry Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

There are so many issues in Redlands and across Reading that need sorting out and local people that need our support and e'll be back on the campaign trail reinvigorated and ready for action soon!

All the best,

Daisy, Kirsten and Glenn x

Snow-go area!

Well, shortly I'll be packing up my sledge and heading off to family for Christmas, but before I do I still have some work to do to help residents who are struggling on local icy roads and pavements.

Days after the heavy snow falll it seems that many parts of Reading are still not back to normal and this is causing problems for many residents.

The picture above was taken by a resident of the Thirlmere Avenue/Romany Lane junction in West Reading.

 
This is a picture taken of Kendrick Road earlier today.

Twitter is still buzzing with complaints from residents who are finding it hard to get about lots of areas of Town on Christmas Eve - traditionally a very busy day for everyone trying to get ready for Christmas, visit family etc.

Most of the complaints are about the state of pavements: 'a nightmare', 'very dangerous, 'a skating rink''. Ice, and worse, black ice, is a real problem on many pavements and roads. 

Lots of people are avoiding walking on pavements so taking buses or driving - no doubt adding to potential traffic chaos and jams.

Nationally there have been calls for councils to grit pavements but it is unlikely to happen due to lack of resources.

Here in Reading the Council took the decision late in the day to grit some pavements in the Town Centre.

Labour Leader of Reading Borough Council stuck her head above the parapet yesterday and was quoted on Sky News Online saying:

"We have about 275 miles of road in Reading and about 30% of those are primary and secondary routes which we grit to keep the buses moving."

According to the article: 'She believes it is unlikely the nation's pavement will ever be gritted because there simply is no way to stock enough grit or salt or to employ the workers to dispense it all.'

Clearly councils like Reading do not have unlimited resources to throw at gritting.

However, I think my colleague Cllr Warren Swaine has the right idea - the Council should look to put in place facilities to enable  residents to help themselves during snowy and icy weather. i.e more grit bins (and not empty ones!)

This comment from a local resident stood out:

 "Wensley Rd,Coley Pk pavements etc are 2" thick sheet ice,v worried about all the elderly ppl not able 2 get out"

This is a real worry: elderly people are already very vulnerable to falls at this time of year.

And this weather is clearly putting a major pressure on local health services - notably the already-stretched South Central Ambulance Trust.

My colleague Martin Tod, prospective parliamentary candidate for Winchester constituency recently submitted some Freedom of Information requests which revealed quite how stretched the ambulance service is (even without taking into account the impact of extreme weather).

Martin's research found that the South Central Ambulance Service has only 5.3 ambulances per 100,000 people covering Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire compared to 7.1 ambulances per 100,000 people for South Western Ambulance Service – the trust with the fastest response times in England and Wales.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital has also been hit by a massive increase in admissions to Accident & Emergency in the past few days.

The number of admissions during the worst 24-hour period of the blizzard was 273 when the average is 200.

A spokesman for the hospital told Sky News last night:

 "The vast majority of those 273 were the result of icy conditions...the hospital even had to lay on an extra operating theatre to cope."

I'm collating a list of these issues and raising them with RBC. It is important they are aware of where the problem areas are. Resources are limited but the Council needs up to date information to be able to prioritise resources effectively and residents need to feel they are being listened to .

If you are worried about elderly or vulnerable people who might be in need of help during this time or at any point over the Christmas period please contact the Council on 0118 955 3621

If your concern is about crime or anti-social behaviour call Thames Valley Police on their (24hr) non-emergency number 0845 8 505.

Details of the Civic Office opening hours over the holiday period can be found here. If you need to contact the Council during this time the Out of Hours telephone number is 0118 939 0900.

If you have any comments, concerns or issues you wish to raise about snow/ice on road and pavements I suggest you email them to the Chief Executive of the Council: michael.coughlin@reading.gov.uk - feel free to copy me in: redlandslibdems@hotmail.co.uk

Stay safe this Christmas!

Bad tidings for RBC Tenants

News has reached me this evening via two constituents that Reading Borough Council's housing department in it's wisdom has written to all tenants just DAYS before Christmas to seek views on it's plans to vary all RBC tenancy agreements to pave the way for the introduction of service charges.

The letter says:

"We are writing to let you know that the council would like to change the terms of its standard secure tenancy agreement...the way in which the council would like to change your tenancy agreement is by adding the following additional clause: -

Section 2, the Council’s responsibilities, additional clause 2.4:

‘We can introduce service charges for services that you already receive, for example the cleaning and lighting of the common parts of council blocks of accommodation (‘common parts’ means those pats of the block that are used by all occupiers an visitors, such as entrance halls and stairwells), window cleaning in common parts, installation and replacement or repair or door entry systems, maintenance and repair of lifts, and grass and hedge cutting. These service charges will be charged as additional rent and collected as part of your rent. We must tell you in writing at least 2 weeks before we introduce a new service charge."

The letter gives tenants until 15 Jan to respond - less than 4 weeks to consider what is a very important change to their tenancies.

Councillors were not informed that these letters were due to be sent out by RBC.

Ironic, after I chaired a meeting of tenants and councillors a few weeks ago looking to establish a protocol for 'estate-based consultations'.

We didn't need a meeting about it - just an email saying it was going out would have been nice (so that we can respond to queries).

There is no mention of this consultation in the Winter Edition of "Housing News" which was sent out to all tenants earlier this month.

These charges were mooted earlier this year but when I pressed officers and the Labour Lead Member for Housing, Deborah Edwards about when the authority planned to introduce service charges for cleaning and lighting (at the last meeting of HHCC Scrutiny Panel) it seemed they had got cold feet.

The answer then came back "at some point in 2010/11" They did not seem to be in a particular hurry to do it.

At no point did officers or Cllr Edwards make it clear that RBC was planning to give formal notice to tenants.

And nowhere in the letter sent out on 21 December is there any information about when the Council actually plans to start charging tenants.

The onset of local elections in spring 2010 and fact that a recent survey of tenants revealed that 40% of tenants rated RBC cleaning services as less than excellent surely made the introduction of these charges even less politically palatable to the Labour administration.

Council tenants will not thank Labour for this extra "tax" on the working poor.

Cllr Edwards and I have already crossed swords publicly about the need to introduce service charges.

She argues they are necessary - to be fair the decision to charge pre-dates her time on the Cabinet: it was taken in 2006 to plug an expected hole in the Council's housing finances.

We have argued consistently that charging would not be necessary if were it not for the fact that because of the hopelessly inequitable Housing Revenue Account system (that the Labour government failed to reform )  and the so-called system of 'negative subsidy' (which sees RBC tenants' rent sucked back into Whitehall to subsidise Treasury spending elsewhere in the UK) RBC is left with a hole in it's housing budget.

Nationally the Local Government Association and other organisations ran a high-profile campaign entitled 'my rent to Whitehall'.

In the last year alone RBC was forced to give £5.5 million pounds of council tenants' rent to the Treasury in negative subsidy.

This money was not spent in Reading. So why should tenants be forced to pay more?

The Lib Dems in Reading have led the local campaign to end the hated so-called "Tenant Tax".

We won cross-party support for our campaign earlier this year but local Labour politicians have failed to deliver and change to housing finance has not come quick enough at a national level.

We have also expressed concerns about the timing of the introduction of charges - in the middle of a recession which has seen the number of people claiming benefits in Reading steadily increase this year.

It is true that service charges will not affect tenants who receive Housing Benefit (around 65-70% of RBC tenants) but they will undoubtedly hit the remaining 30% of tenants, many of whom are currently struggling as it is on low incomes.

So this announcement is a concern.

The letter continues:

"We would be grateful for any comments that you may have on the proposed variation, whether you agree to the variation or you object to it.   If you wish to make comments you can do so in one of the following ways: -

(by completing tear off slip, e-mail or phoning Income Recovery Team etc.)

Please provide your comments to us by no later than 15th January 2010.   Once this date has passed, we will consider all of the comments that we receive.   If we decide to go ahead with the proposed change to your tenancy agreement, we will then send you a formal notice known as the notice of variation"

I have written to senior officers in RBC's housing department to express concerns at the way that this consultation has been handled and to seek clarification as to the Council's timetable for charging tenants.

We speak often in Council meetings about 'consultation fatigue' - RBC tenants have been surveyed to death recently on issues from estate improvement plans, to cleaning  and anti-social behaviour.

I am concerned that some tenants may miss this letter or worse ignore it thinking it's not important.

Also, as I said earlier this month,the RBC survey of cleaning services provided to RBC tenants raised serious questions about the quality of services some tenants receive. And as I said then:

"it would be entirely wrong for the Labour administration to press ahead with introducing extra charges for cleaning until these basic issues are sorted out to Council tenants' satisfication"

I wonder whether Cllr Edwards and her team have thought all these issues through?

I hope they have, because I predict the Labour administration os opening a real can of worms here.

UPDATE:

A constituent and Council tenant has just sent me the following message via email:

"Just read your blog on Facebook about the RBC letter, absolutely brilliant, let's hope this plus your letter gets a response from RBC, who should be ashamed of themselves.

I believe that Councillor Edwards should resign, in view of her deceitful behaviour about this issue plus the offensive comments in Housing News that you have highlighted. She is clearly totally out of touch with the real world."

Cool customer

Earlier on today I emailed the Chief Exec of Reading Borough Council a list of roads in Reading where snow, ice and lack of grit is still a real problem.

This was based on information I picked up from Reading residents via Twitter, Facebook and email.

They included:

• Grit bins at junction of Thirlmere, Lyndhurst & Romany Lane (empty for 2 days)
• Whitley Wood Road - pavement and highway thick ice (secondary route)
• Prospect St - junction with Baker St & Argyle road closed earlier by police as impassable (secondary route)
  Beecham Road (very icy)
• Ennerdale Road - lack of gritting and lack of grit stocks in grit bins
• Pavements causing problems for residents of Peppard Road
• Bede Walk

 I was very impressed by the speedy response to my email I received from Chief Executive of the Council, Michael Coughlin. 
  
Ironically we were due to meet today to discuss how social media could be used by the Council and the Local Strategic Partnership to communicate with residents! 

Michael explained in response to the issues I raised that he could not "guarantee anything at this stage" due to "the pressure on all available resources and the sheer weight of demand".

He added that the Council's approach would be "to prioritise need and doing what we can where we can"

Although Michael Coughlin has come in for criticism in some quarters this week I have once again been impressed by his ability to be pragmatic and stay cool in a crisis.

In contrast, the Leader of the Council: Cllr Jo Lovelock, and Cllr Tony Page, Deputy Leader of the Council, (with responsiblity for transport) have both been conspicuous by their absence on local media in recent days.

True, they could be unavailable for a particular reason but a senior member of the Labour administration in Reading really should be visible at times like this.

Michael Coughlin has been left to front up the Council's media operation (including BBC News 24), something he has done admirably well, under tricky circumstances I think.

As a result of being the public 'face' of RBC, Michael has been on the receiving end of much of the public ire - both online and on the airwaves - currently 79 comments and counting over on Get Reading.

He has led the organisation through a few difficult times since he arrived from Crawley BC in March 2008 (including the highly critical inspection of the Council's Childrens' Services department) and I am confident that he is putting all his energy and skill into leading Council staff and other local agencies through this latest trial.

It is important I think to distinguish between the role of a council chief executive (the most senior official in any local authority) and that of the political administration.

Sometimes people get confused about the two roles - or worse, sometimes politicians seek to confuse them in the eyes of the public.

Criticism of council spending and decisions taken at a corporate level should be levelled at politicians, not officers. It is the role of officers to advise politicians and implement council policy not decide what that policy should be.

Councillors and council leaders are held accountable for the decisions they take via the ballot box: officers are not.

Michael, along with many staff at Reading Borough Council are still hard at work as I write this, just hours away from Christmas eve and the holiday period. 

We should be grateful that people like him choose to stay in local government and public service when faced with other less stressful career options.

This is why recent attacks on public sector workers - many of whom (OK, not council chief execs) are not well paid - by the Taxpayers' Alliance and senior Conservatives are misplaced, damaging and demoralising for staff who do important jobs.

Michael's message to me earlier today concludes:

"We are still going strong here and I can confirm that all the grit bins will be re-filled as soon as we have finished the primary and secondary grit runs today and that Whitley Wood Road and Prospect Street will be gritted within the next couple of hours as the gritters are out as I write."

I ventured out a little while ago and the rain is turning many roads and pavements in Reading into even more slippery slopes. This picture is of the Whitley Pump:

 

I am technically on holiday (from work) but it certainly doesn't feel like a typical start to the Christmas holidays for me and doubtless for lots of other people in Reading.

As I write I'm still receiving complaints from residents about the state of roads and pavements across the Town.

As the picture above shows with rain comes the risk of more ice and more dangerous conditions for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. I'm passing all of these issues on to RBC for attention.

I really hope the promised thaw brings some relief for residents and staff of Reading Borough Council in time for Christmas. 

One piece of good news: the elderly gentleman who came to our surgery at the weekend has been supplied with emergency heating and will be getting more support from social services very soon.

We need to understand what went so badly wrong so that he got so badly let down by systems designed to help him, but at the moment all that matters to us is that he is being helped to keep warm.

It'snow joke

A constituent contacted me yesterday furious about THIS article which appears in RBC's "Housing News" (Winter 2009 edition)- a free newsletter sent to all RBC tenants...

 
At the very least the choice of words for the title of an article about the need for tenants to avoid getting into arrears is unfortunate.

It is also deeply insensitive.

My constituent "Mrs A" was particularly cross because she is one of 25% of RBC tenants who do not receive housing benefit to cover their rent:

"We are struggling to pay bills on low incomes as it is...without this. It's insulting!"

 

Mrs A, who lives off Hexham Road, is already, I'm sorry to say, no fan of Cllr Deborah Edwards, Labour Lead Member for Housing, and her dislike was not helped by Cllr Edwards' comments in the introduction to the same edition of Housing News:

"before you buy gifts [at Christmas] remember that your rent comes first - it's always more important to have a roof over your head."

Oh dear, I'm sure she meant well...

Even so, Mrs A, a self-confessed Socialist has told me emphatically that she will certainly not be voting Labour at the next election.

Failure to deliver improvements to council housing on Hexham estate, lack of visible Policing in Whitley - just two of a number issues about which she tells me she feels very let down about.

"They're the new Tory party...they don't care about people like us" she told me.

Back to the offending article: on a serious note, homelessness is no joke and Cllr Edwards and RBC officers were wrong to allow this article to go out in an official council publication.

I have written to RBC and Cllr Edwards to complain about this article and asking them to show  more sensitivity over how they handle these types of issues in the future: I think tenants deserve an apology.

RBC forced onto defensive over response to 'extreme' weather

Well, two days after the heavy snow falls in Reading it looks as though things are still a long way from getting back to normal and many residents are still struggling.

Here is just a small selection of some of comments on the subject on Twitter (follow #rdg for more like this):

"Just had a look at our path outside alongside our main road.. not gritted and looks and feels like an ice rink... GRIT THE BLOODY PATHS" (Whitley Wood Road)

"Our street is a gritted street. RBC claims it has been gritted. Where’s the grit? (Prospect St)

"Have the roads in #rdg been gritted yet? Want to drive into town"

"Just saw a gritter come down my road! #rdg Perhaps today I can hope to use my car for the first time since Sund.Made it in to work."

"Warning to all in #rdg, King's Road by TVU and London Road by Cholmeley Road very icy indeed"

"Bottom of Norcot Road #rdg on path is VERY icy. Careful! My 1st fall... :("

"Not bad with how much I've travelled this Pleased to see the A329(M) #rdg end has been cleared of lots of black and white ice - not! Who says enough gritting is going on?"

"Have RBC run out of grit? Haven't seen any gritters, Wokingham Road & IDR still icy in places, no grit in grit bins..."

As I blogged yesterday it appears that the Council is struggling to follow it's policies of gritting all primary and secondary routes. This is having a knock-on effect on many key bus routes across the Town.

The Council has been forced on to the defensive this afternoon, belatedly issuing a statement after being heavily criticised by residents and the Town's two MPs in an article published today. 

I'm delighted to have the backing of Martin Salter and Rob Wilson for our call for an in-depth investigation into the Council's handling of the adverse weather.

 
The Council has clearly been forced onto the back foot as the statement issued today shows:

Michael Coughlin, Chief Executive of Reading Borough Council, said:

"We know many motorists have experienced great difficulties, especially on Monday, and we do sympathise with them.

"Contrary to reports, Council gritters were out on primary and secondary roads over the weekend and in the early hours of Monday.

"While we were of course aware that further snow was predicted on Monday, we did not receive advance warning of the sheer severity of the weather that hit the area. The warning came some time after the extreme weather started - despite the fact that we were monitoring local forecasts very closely.

"The sudden onset of the extreme and appalling weather conditions, combined with the very large numbers of people leaving town centre shops and offices by road at the same time, caused gridlock and made it impossible for our gritting vehicles to get around the town.

"As soon as they could, late on Monday night, the gritters were back in action on the roads and continued throughout the night. This meant that the majority of major routes were clear by Tuesday morning. The work has continued over the past 36 hours and we are also now gritting high pedestrian traffic areas in and around the town centre".

This statement raises more questions than it answers: not least, what are the Council's strategies for preventing gridlock on the Town's roads if a major incident occurs?

Officers met to plan the emergency response at 5pm on Monday: this was plainly too late in the day to stop gridlock.

Communication, or lack of, is at the heart of this. What messages did the Council put out for example via local adio much earlier in the day when people were shopping and in their offices?

I was in a cab listening to Reading 107fm early on Monday afternoon travelling between the IDR and Caversham Road and we didn't hear any official messages about not travelling.

The first press statement from RBC was only issued around 8.30pm.

The last paragraph of the statement says:

"The welfare of the most vulnerable people continues to be a key priority for us at this time, and I would urge them - or their carers or neighbours on their behalf - to contact the Council on 0118 955 3621 if they have urgent needs during the cold weather."

This is good but if this is a key priority for the Council why is this sentence at the bottom of the press release?

There has been no mention of vulnerable people in any of the statements issued by the Council until now.

I contacted the Council on Saturday about a 90 year old man in my ward who was without heating requesting urgent help for him and I only got an update late yesterday afternoon to say contact had been made with him and his family and this was only after much chasing.

I dread to think how many other elderly and disabled people have been left stranded?

I have every faith that staff are doing their best at this time but I am concerned that the systems in place to support them in their work are not working nearly well enough.

A recent CQC inspection of the community care service identified serious weaknesses with the telephone systems at RBC - as I said at the December HHCC Scrutiny Panel meeting a few weeks ago where it was discussed, these must be sorted to ensure no elderly people are left out in the cold.

The scrutiny review which will take place in the New Year must investigate all these issues.

 
UPDATE

A resident from Prospect St has just tweeted this, (having read the Council's latest statement):

"RBC not telling truth... our street is a secondary gritter route and was closed by police about 1hr ago #rdg...Crossroads with Baker Street and Argyle Road are lethal"

It would seem residents' problems are far from over in many parts of Reading and the Council has much work to do to get Reading moving again and, crucially, to win back the confidence of many local residents.

True Grit - The Video

Check out this video we made to illustrate some of the problems faced by residents in Redlands and Katesgrove over the past 24 hours...Hope you like it!

Digging deeper

My colleague Cllr Ricky Duveen (Lib Dem transport spokesperson) has drawn my attention to a report that went to the Environment Scrutiny Panel back in September about how the Council would respond to adverse weather conditions.

It contains the following information about the Council's duties and policies in relation to winter weather which I thought readers might find informative:

• The Council has a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. Section 41 was
  amended in October 2003 to place a new duty upon local authorities in England and
  Wales to ensure that safe passage along the highway is not endangered by snow or
  ice. This amendment will be conditional to those measures, which are reasonably
  practicable to the Borough Council.
• A 'winter service standby' function will be provided for 26 weeks, starting on 1st
  October 2009 to 31st March 2010. This period may be extended to the end of April
  2010 if unfavourable conditions persist
• Precautionary salting of the Primary network and snow clearance on the Primary
  routes will be carried out based on information received from the weather
  forecasting service. The Secondary salting network will only be salted and/or
  cleared of snow during particularly severe and prolonged hazardous winter weather
  conditions (prolonged hazardous conditions shall be experienced for 72 hours before
  works may commence).
• Salting of main Town Centre footways will be carried out based on information
  received from the weather forecasting service and only during prolonged hazardous
  conditions
• As the Highway Authority, Reading Borough Council has a legal duty under Section
  150 of the Highways Act 1980 to remove accumulations of snow, if causing a
  highway to become obstructed. Roads will therefore be cleared of snow in
  descending order of priority commencing with the primary network. Town Centre
  footways and footways outside schools will also be cleared along with the Primary
  network and secondary priority snow clearing route
• Salt bins are provided at locations throughout the Borough for public use and are
  maintained by the Contractor and their locations will be detailed in the Winter
  Service Plan.
• These are generally located at sites where there is a steep and/or
  hazardous gradient not on a gritting route. Also in cases of special needs if funding
  is available in the appropriate budget.
• The contract requires the contractor to repair and replenish these throughout the winter period as necessary. In the event of limited salt supplies as a result of national shortages priority will be given to the Primary network

An interesting fact that I learned as a result of reading this report is that RBC has contracted out management of the contract to WSP consultants:

"The Borough Council has employed WSP to act as Highways and Transportation
Consultants for the four year period commencing 1 April 2008. The Contract meets
the requirements of the Borough Council in terms of the winter maintenance
service. The Consultants' role is to act as the Winter Service Manager and provide
the Duty Officer. The Duty Officer has a specific responsibility for liaising directly
with the Met Office duty forecaster and for disseminating information."

"When snow is forecast the clearing/ploughing strategy is to be controlled by WSP
but all actions will be confirmed with RBC Staff. In times of prolonged severe
weather staff from RBC will liaise directly with the contractor in order to direct
operations in the most effective way possible."

• The Council has a term contract with J. H. Cresswell and Sons Limited until on 30th
  September 2013 to provide the winter precautionary salting and secondary salting
  service and to place and maintain salt bins at various locations around the Borough.
• The consultant [WSP] liaises directly with Cresswell’s in accordance with procedures
  outlined above and detailed in the Winter Service Plan.

Clearly, scrutiny of the performance of these contractors will need to form part of the forthcoming review.

It is important that local taxpayers get value for money and good quality services from contractors - these are after all lucrative contracts.

Follow this link to see the Council's winter gritting policy.

This evening concerns have been raised with me once again by residents about lack of available salt in public salt bins:

"I've just spoken to RBC again about the grit bin on Ennerdale (which is still empty 4.45pm). I spoke to someone said she couldn't tell me any more than the press release - ie that they were concentrating on primary routes. There was no-one else available for me to talk to.

I have seen the gritting map and can't believe that they haven't been able to grit all the red & blue routes and refill the grit bins by now. The excuse of gridlocked traffic was yesterday's excuse - how come it has not been done today?
 
Currently people are slipping over on the hill at Ennerdale and cars and vans are having great difficulty getting up or down. It is extremely dangerous."

The Council really does need to sort these communications problems out so that local problems can be sorted out quickly and so local residents know what they can expect from their local authority.

#5 Bus NOT stopping on Corbridge Rd due to snow

I just called in on residents who have been experiencing heating problems on Hadrians Walk West to check they are OK. 

They are still waiting for things to be sorted and were none too pleased with Reading Borough Council today.

I also called the Council to check up on a gentleman of 92 who came to our surgery last weekend who has been struggling to get central heating installed in his own property for two years. 

He is now going to get a community care assessment (at last) and I hope he will get more care as a result.

On my way back to the car I stopped to chat to a constituent waiting for a Number 5 bus on Corbridge Road. Reading Buses are currently operating a limited service.

The road was very snowy and icy - clearly in urgent need of gritting as part of a major bus route into Town.

I rang RBC's call centre to be told that this road was on the gritting list but that the Council was focussing on primary routes first, secondary routes second - understandable.

Bus routes are designated secondary routes and I got the impression there was a long backlog of these roads to be gritted.

We walked along Northumberland Avenue and I spoke to a passerby -another constituent. She asked me if I was waiting for a bus: "they're not going via Corbridge Road today - it's impassable by bus", she said.

A few minutes later a bus duly arrived and deposited passengers on the corner of Newcastle Road.

We rushed back to speak to the guy waiting back at the bus stop. There was nothing on the 'real-time information' bar at the stop to say buses would not be calling there.

He told me he had been waiting for half an hour (!) We gave him a lift into Town.

I had a quick look on the Reading Buses website just now and there is nothing on there to say the 5 bus route has been diverted away from the estate.

People who live on the estate without cars really rely on this bus service so now they are effectively cut off. Many people do not have the internet either so may not know about the diversion

Apparently the Council is in charge of the 'real time bus information' at stops.

The Council working with Reading Buses must make sure that is clear to passengers which bus services are running and which bus stops are (temporarily) out of use.

People must not be left at bus stops in freezing temperatures not knowing diversions are taking place.

I'll be raising this with Reading Buses now.

In other news, The President of the AA and Transport Minister Sadiq Khan have both criticised councils (including Reading Borough Council) for the effectiveness of their gritting policies.

AA President, Edmund King said:

"I have heard from ambulance services in the North East, Sussex, Reading and High Wycombe that roads have not been gritted properly.

"Our patrols are getting stuck and they cannot get to stranded motorists."

The minister said he will be "asking questions" of councils involved.

UPDATE (23 Dec)

According to Reading Buses the #5 bus is still not travelling via Newcastle Road or Corbridge Road. Unfortuanately it appears this message is not reaching people at bus stops there and people are still waiting for buses.

RBC Highways department outlines approach

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch via Email, Twitter and Facebook to thank me for my regular updates and posts - much appreciated.

I'm glad readers are finding this stuff useful and I'm sorry so many people seem to have had such difficult and stressful journeys over the past 24 hours.

The latest press release from Reading Borough Council can be found here.

Earlier today all RBC councillors were emailed a briefing note, from the Council's Highways department which I am sharing below in the interest of all Reading residents affected by the bad weather, and all those who are keen to understand better the Council's current approach to dealing with the recent extreme weather conditions:

"In response to exceptional cold weather conditions last winter (2008/9) and following reports to Cabinet and Environment Scrutiny Panel. A number of changes to the way the council addresses winter weather conditions and impacts has changed. Those changes and the impacts they address are set out below:-

1) Highway maintenance (statutory duty) – cold weather affects the fabric of the highway, especially if services, notably water, are present. Leaks/damage to a service requires repairs and these in turn (especially when not reinstated well) create ongoing problems with the surrounding highway. = Inspection regimes have been improved, both of the highway in general and in particular the inspection of reinstatements carried out by contractors or service providers.

2.Gritting (part of the statutory highway maintenance duty and duty of care) – Gritting is essential on key routes, especially bus routes, in freezing weather. However the gritting itself, because it contains salt, causes damage to the fabric of the highway ranging from staining paved footway areas to eroding the highway and increasing the maintenance liabilities. Reading Borough Council has set out, and agreed through a Cabinet process, a policy for gritting main routes. = These routes include all bus routes and have been extended to cover a larger number of key other roads, this service fully utilises the vehicles and materials we have available to us for winter maintenance of this sort. The budget allows for a set level of gritting runs but in exceptional weather, such as last winter and now, the budget is extended corporately to cover costs.

3) Preventative Actions – The highways section, in consultation with street cleansing, also has an option to use a preventative measure on pedestrianised areas in exceptional weather. = The use of the substance UREA (which uses pigs urine and prevents snow settling) is only effective when laid on a “dry” surface before snow falls. The forecast on Thursday was for a snow fall but not settling. The forecast was wrong and remedial action has since been taken in the Town Centre (gritting) but this will have an implication (staining at least) for the pedestrian surfaces after the snow and ice clears. However the purchase and application of UREA would not be practical on footways in general both logistically and cost wise.

4) Grit Bins – The council provides and maintains “grit bins” at certain locations throughout the town. The bins are there to provide grit for the highway to be applied by residents in icy conditions. The grit bins are located on highways not part of the gritting schedule and where road surface would be difficult in icy weather (steep slopes) = RBC reviewed and extended our winter maintenance policies this year; see report to Environment Scrutiny Panel. More roads are now included in the gritting schedule and where salt bins were located on these new routes they have been removed. A review of all areas in the borough showed that some areas had a number of salt bins in the same locations while other (with similar or steeper conditions) had none. Scrutiny panel supported the review of salt bins, location of new bins in areas not currently provided and the removal of existing bins where the gritting routes now covered or other retained bins could be used this review has now been carried out.

Below is a summary of actions to date during these current weather conditions:-
For information we have gritted as follows since Thursday:

Thursday 17th - 2 runs (Primary and Secondary).
Friday 18th 3 runs (Primary and Secondary) plus one extra run on secondary instructed.
Saturday 19th 1 run (Primary and Secondary)
Sunday 20th 2 runs (Primary and Secondary)
Monday 21st 1 run so far (Primary and Secondary).
Monday 21st Instruction to replenish all grit bins given
Tuesday, 22nd, 5 primary grit run and 1 secondary grit run (125 tons of grit used)

Plenty to digest in there.

I have to say blaming weather forecasts for being "wrong" seems a slightly dubious defence under the circumstances.

Clearly the weather was much worse than predicted but given the time of year and weather forecasts issued over the past week heavy snow did not happen completely out of the blue.

I am aware that many people (and I was one of them) who contacted the Council with concerns about icy roads several days ago before the worst weather struck.

Grit stocks is another area where questions need to be asked.

I received an email complaint earlier today from a resident of Ennerdale Road grit bins ran out there on Friday and despite three calls to the Council from householders salt has not been replenished.

They were told that stocks were going to e replenished but this so far hasn't happened.

There are references to cost pressures and extra resources being drafted in, in the Council's response but it not possible to get a clear picture at this stage about the financial side of things. We also need to understand how much dealing with a crisis like this costs the Council so we can ensure we budget for things like this appropriately in the future.

In particular look forward to finding out more about the Council's communications strategy for dealing with this crisis as I think this could be improved.

Other councils, notably Walsall, Camden and Brighton and Essex County Council use Twitter to get messages out quickly, easily and cheaply to residents.

I've been saying for ages that Labour-run Reading Borough Council should use social media tools to get it's message across.

There are some risks to the Council but there are also clear benefits.

For many people stuck in their cars last night staying tuned to the local Radio and logging Twitter was there only means of getting up to date information and staying in touch with the outside world.

I know this because people contacted me to tell me about it, posted messages online etc

One local radio journalist I spoke to today said she was having trouble getting any information at all out of RBC before late yesterday evening.

The scrutiny review due to take place in the New Year will give councillors and with luck - members of the public the opportunity to ask detailed questions about this approach.

This is not about blaming: we have a duty as councillors to ensure that our policies and procedures here in Reading are fit for purpose, particularly if extreme weather is likely to become more rather than less common in the future.