Madam, – As the cold spell continues we are beginning to reap the human cost of inadequate preparation. People have already died and more will probably succumb for one reason or another because cash-strapped local authorities are unable to make roads and footpaths safe. The retail trade is losing sales to an extent that is bound to lead to job losses and in some cases workers are unable to turn up for work, the result of which will be a drop in taxes returned to the exchequer and will no doubt lead to even more cuts in expenditure that will affect the least well off most severely.
It was a major mistake to take procurement out of the hands of the county engineers and give it instead to the National Road Authority bean counters, who not only underestimated the stocks we needed to have on hand but failed to resupply in time for the second round. No doubt they are sitting in their heated offices right now working out how to justify not bringing in sufficient supplies to deal with the continuing severe weather spell, which is very likely continue into January and February, while local authority engineering staff are out on the ground working desperately to maximise what they can do with the meagre resources they’ve been allowed.
Yet another national disaster for which our Government refuses to take executive responsibility or even to appoint someone who is capable of managing emergencies, delegating it instead to a committee of public service desk jockeys. – Yours, etc,