Council staff praised for dedication in cold weather

Monmouthshire County Council Leader, Peter Fox, has praised the dedication of staff in providing services during a spell of extremely cold weather this week.

Salting crews have been working day and night on Monmouthshire's priority salting routes utilising all available gritters.

The council prioritises principal routes for gritting and as soon as they are satisfied that the main routes are safe they move onto minor secondary routes and small link roads.  They have operatives out on all priority gritting routes all day and night gritting as required. They also have extra staff manually gritting footways and side routes where possible.

In the last week, the Home Care service has been working hard to make sure every person who needs home care has the same level of service as they always receive. 

Home carers who couldn't make it in to work were picked up by a staff member trained to drive the council's 4x4 vehicles in severe weather conditions and managed to get to employees in to the more remote areas. Staff were working extra shifts to cover those who couldn't get in and many employees stayed in work for extra hours whilst waiting for others to get in to work. This kind of flexible and dedicated approach happens during all severe weather events.

Julie Skidmore, Home Care Duty Officer, said:  "It's all down to teamwork, we pull together and make sure we get to the people that need us."

Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, Peter Fox, said,

"I have to commend the way that our staff at Monmouthshire County Council handled the extremely cold conditions last week - many went well beyond what was required of them. 

"I'd like to pay tribute to the workers on 24-hour winter maintenance duty and those who rearranged their shifts to work long hours gritting our roads and pavements.

"Social Services staff made an admirable effort to battle the elements, with many travelling on foot to make sure those vulnerable members of our communities had proper care.  Thanks to our staff - you rose to the challenge presented to you and did all that was necessary to ensure that no one was left without help."