The Council’s One Stop Shops remain open, as does the Council switchboard and emergency lines. County Hall is open.

We are concerned that people keep warm and safe, so we have put a link from the front page of the council web site (www.monmouthshire.gov.uk) to Directgov advice on keeping warm and getting financial help with heating bills.

Despite the current conditions, the Council is able to maintain key front line services. We were also able to keep the public informed of service changes through out one stop shops, the media and – of course – our web site (www.monmouthshire.gov.uk), which was being updated from 5am. The web site continues to have a high level of use and remains the first point of call for up to date service information.

The current position in Monmouthshire is as follows:

Gritting

“Salt Cell”, the UK’s emergency planning coordination body for road salt supplies has identified that there is little chance of salt supplies meeting demand for at least the next five days.

Prior to the current unusually long spell of wintry weather Monmouthshire County Council had full stocks of road salt, amounting to 7500 tonnes. Demand on this stock has been intense since the bad weather set in before Christmas. We have salted 1600km (995 miles) of roads up to three times per day. In the three days to 7th January, this has totalled 6000km (3728 miles) – equivalent to a return trip to Voronezh in Russia.

We ordered new stocks of salt before Christmas, but these have still not arrived. Supplies are being co-ordinated nationally by the National Assembly for Wales and Local Authorities that have lower stocks of salt than us are being prioritised. Ironically, therefore, our excellent state of preparation for this spell of bad weather means that at the current level of usage we will be in danger of running out of road salt before we can be re-supplied.

We are aware that further snowfalls are forecast for Sunday and Monday. Given this we have revised our forward planning and will start to ration our supplies of salt.

We have decided that we will conserve our salt stocks as follows:

• We will continue to salt primary routes, but the weather forecast through to Sunday means that we will only be salting twice a day rather than the current three times a day
• We will discontinue routine salting on non priority rural routes
• We will continue to concentrate resources on clearing urban roads and pavements, but using a lower grade of grit to conserve salt supplies
• The county’s 2500 roadside salt / grit bins will continue to be stocked, but we will use a lower grade of grit

We will, of course, endeavour to respond to critical need on a case by case basis.

Schools

The decision to close a school is taken by the head teacher. At present, the following schools in Monmouthshire are closed:

• Boverton House Pupil Referral Centre
• Caldicot School
• Caldicot Green Lane
• Caldicot West End
• Cantref Primary
• Castle Park Primary including Red Robins playgroup
• Chepstow Comprehensive School
• Clydach Pupil Referral Centre
• Cross Ash Primary
• Deri View Primary
• Durand Primary
• Gilwern Primary
• Govilon Primary
• Goytre Fawr Primary
• Kymin View Primary
• Llandogo Primary
• Llanfair Kilgeddin
• Llanfoist Fawr Primary School
• Llanover Primary
• Llantillio Pertholey Primary
• Llanvihangel Crucorney Primary
• Monmouth Comprehensive
• Mounton House
• Osbaston CIW Primary
• Our Lady & St Michaels RC Primary
• Overmonnow Primary
• Pembroke Primary
• Raglan Primary School
• Rogiet Primary
• St Mary’s RC Primary School
• Shirenewton Primary
• The Dell
• Thornwell Primary
• Trellech Primary
• Undy Primary
• Usk CIW Primary
• Ysgol Gymraeg Y Fenni
• Ysgol Y Ffin

If there are any other schools closed the website will be updated as soon as we are notified.

Public Transport

The following publicly subsidised routes are disrupted:

• Service 43 – Main road only
• Service 65 – The Narth and Llansoy NOT passable

Operators continue to make risk assessments on routes to maintain a normal level of service. This situation may change throughout today and so would ask that the operators are contacted directly to receive the latest updates.

Community Transport (Grass Routes)

All Grass Routes Services in Abergavenny and Monmouth areas not be available today.
Services in Caldicot and Chepstow will attempt to run along main road routes which may be passable today.

Social Services

All day services are closed for today. People attending such services have been contacted individually and alternative support arranged where this is essential. We will make a decision about opening services on Monday, early on Monday morning. Our main concern is the safety of transport users.

The Community Meals service is now running as normal. There may be some delays due to the weather conditions.

Most homecare services (Monmouthshire County Council and Independent sector services) are being provided, but some non-essential calls have been cancelled.  Those service users who live in remote locations are being reached using 4×4 vehicles, but there will be some delay and alteration to their normal call times and frequency.   We are prioritising  services and are in regular contact with those people subject to disruption to their usual services.

All agencies are endeavouring where possible to cover calls by a variety of means, including using 4×4 vehicles or walking to service users’ homes. We are assisting each other to maintain a good level of service.
If you need to contact social services please do so via the one stop shops

Refuse Collections

There will be no refuse collections today. We are reviewing the weather conditions and hope to resume normal services on Monday.

We have arranged for the all the Community Amenity sites to be opened. This will allow those who need / want to, to take refuse or recycling direct to the sites. They are at:

• Llanfoist
• Abergavenny
• Maryport St Car Park ( North)  in Usk
• Troy at Monmouth
• Five Lanes near Caerwent

Libraries

The following libraries are open:

• Abergavenny Library
• Caldicot Library
• Chepstow Library
• Gilwern Library (closed at 4.30 pm)
• Monmouth Library
• Usk Library

The public is advised to contact the libraries directly to check on opening and closing times.

Leisure Centres

The following leisure centres are open, but with a limited service:

• Abergavenny Leisure Centre – will be closing at 9pm
• Caldicot Leisure Centre – will be closing at 7pm
  (Please note that the swimming pool in Caldicot is closed until further notice)
• Chepstow Leisure Centre – will be closing at 9pm
• Monmouth Leisure Centre

Whilst all Leisure Centres are open, the public are advised to check with their local Centre before setting out to ensure that the activity they want is running.

Adult Education

All Adult Education classes are cancelled today. In addition, the following Adult Education Centres are closed:

• Overmonnow Family Learning Centre
• Gilwern  CEC closed
• Abergavenny Youth and Community Centre closed

Students should ring their local leisure or community education centre when they re-open for details of individual courses.

Museums

• Abergavenny Museum open
• Chepstow Museum Open
• Monmouth Museum Open

Outlook

The freezing weather is set to continue and there is a good chance of further snow falls at the weekend. We are already planning for this eventuality.

Paul Matthews, Monmouthshire County Council’s Chief Executive, has again praised the dedication of staff in providing services during the last three weeks of wintry weather. He said:
“We are continuing to work had to ensure that we deliver key services to local people. Things are getting back to normal, although our schools remain closed. The main issue now for us is to plan for the continuing cold weather and the possibility of more snow arriving on Sunday.”

You can read and comment on the consultation on the WAG Website.  See http://www.wales.gov.uk/consultations or http://www.cymru.gov.uk/ymgynghoriadau.

I mentioned this in the last Newsletter and it has now started. As you know the child population has reduced over the years and there is a view that some schools may become too small to be educationally viable. All the Primary Schools in the Bryn y Cwm area (including ours) are now under review to consider what if anything needs to be done about large numbers of vacant places and educational viability.

Schools need to be of a size which is sufficient to deliver the whole curriculum properly. At the same time we must be mindful of a child’s social needs. Travel time to and from school for young children must not be too long; a child needs to be able to socialise with school friends after school; parents need to be able to easily maintain contact with school and participate in school based activities; and teachers need to have knowledge of the community the child comes from.

We also need to be mindful of traffic congestion and pollution if we have too few schools and too many people travelling; I have asked for a cost/benefit analysis of the environmental aspect of transporting increasing numbers of children to school and have been assured that this will be investigated as part of the Review.

It is also important that children feel a part of their own community as so much of their social development takes place outside school. The view of the Council is that these reviews should be carried out initially on a confidential basis until the Council has decided what options should be consulted upon. My concern about this approach is that it prevents me and other Councillors from sharing information openly. I believe that confidentiality can go too far and I have challenged the approach on the basis that it is widely known that a review is taking place and why. If my view is upheld I can share more detailed information with you about the process. In any event I will keep our school Governors and Staff well informed and there will at a later stage be public consultation by the Council.

Affordable Housing:

There is a County Council Task & Finish Group on this which is looking at getting more “affordable housing” into the County. If you look at the Brecon Beacons National Park Development Plans which affect us (see www.breconbeacons.org.uk) you can see what possibilities there might be in our area

Waste Disposal:

MCC is part of a consortium with other Councils which is looking at options for disposing of rubbish which is not recyclable and will not in future be able to go to landfill. I have asked several questions of the Cabinet member responsible and have taken expert advice. My concern at the moment is that the process is leading to a large incinerator in the Cardiff area although I have been assured that other technologies will be looked at. I would appreciate comments from anyone with knowledge and expertise on this subject

Safeguarding Children:

As a former Director of Social services this issue is close to my heart and I have asked several questions in Council about the safety of our own services following the “Baby P” case. I am also leading a Select Committee review on the effectiveness of safeguarding children and young people in Monmouthshire.

County Council Budget:

The difficult process of setting the budget and the Council Tax has now started and I will keep you informed as it progresses.