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It never used to be like this. Once, I could greet the first flakes of winter snow as a happy sign of seasonal churn and think no more of it. But, for the past three winters, the onset of snow and ice means... the annual round of spreadsheets detailing grit supplies across the capital, the call to attend the Severe Weather Gold Cell meeting, the facilitation of mutual aid and, of course, the real challenge of how best to get the local government and Transport for London story out there. John O'Brien is chief executive of London Councils All that, and I am not even responsible for anyone's winter service operation. The real heavy lifting is done by hard-working staff in boroughs, Transport for London and other partners, supported at a pan-London level by lead chief executives, and a team labouring on our collective behalf at the London Local Authority Co-ordination Centre. You can't be close to this type of experience, however, without reflecting how much the winter service story says about the challenges of modern local government. There is the multi-agency partnership. We have had our moments with partners, but overwhelmingly, the experience has been that, in practice, public servants of goodwill are far more likely to want to fix a problem together during a crisis than to perpetuate it. There is the unique intelligence which is provided by a multi-purpose local body. It allows connections to be made across service and place to try and protect the most vulnerable, and focus action on those steps most likely to keep priority routes operating for the economic and social benefit of communities. And, of course, there is the dialogue with the public about where the boundaries of public service and citizen action are appropriately drawn in the world we are now in. On my train into work one morning, I overheard a conversation which went along the lines of, ‘Is it not disgraceful that our road has not been gritted? But I bet the entrance to the council offices has been.' That might say something wider and telling about the public's perception, but it does also speak to the challenge of opening up a debate about service expectations. I genuinely don't know if there ever was a time when councils gritted every road and footpath to within an inch of everyone's front gate or drive. More critically now, however, is the question about whether a wider discussion can take place about what people feel is the priority for council action, and what might be left to individuals and groups of neighbours? Across the country, local government works incredibly hard to try and get this right. In London, we are pleased that the steps which have been taken over the past two years to build our collaborative winter efforts were recognised in the recent audit of these issues for the Government by David Quarmby, appointed by the previous secretary of state for transport to lead a review of the resilience of England's transport systems to severe winter weather.. But, there is a long way to go this winter yet, and lots more challenges to overcome before we can put away the gritting spreadsheets and start thinking of spring.

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WHITEHALL

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