As Staffordshire continues to bake in heatwaves this summer, the county council is already looking ahead to how roads will be treated when temperatures plummet in the winter.

Communities wanting grit bins that would not normally be provided by the county council will be able to fund facilities themselves, with the authority providing services, as part of the proposed new Winter Service Policy.

The document, which replaces an older policy, is set to be presented to Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet for adoption next month, before the 2026/27 winter season gets under way.

Members of the council's Economy, Infrastructure and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee were given an opportunity to consider the updates and give feedback at their latest meeting.

Cllr Peter Mason, cabinet member for strategic highways, told the committee the policy was last updated 11 years ago.

He added: "All the roads that were treated under the 2015/16 policy will be treated under this new policy from October onwards.

"It also incorporates management of gritting and grit bins out there.

"That isn't about nearly 3,000 grit bins we already have on our map identified as strategic or community-led and are part of our filling plan, but it's about requests – and there were a lot of requests this year – for additional grit bins in certain areas where they wouldn't meet assessment criteria.

"I have tried to develop a policy that allows members or local councils, be it parish, town, borough or district, to say 'for our community needs we will fund a grit bin in our area' and Staffordshire County Council will be the service provider for it.

"They don't have to buy it, they don't have to get a third party to fill it, they can come to us and we will do it on their behalf but it's at their expense.

"It allows those areas that don't fall in our categorisation to get some support from local councils and communities in meeting any identified needs.

"It wasn't about taking anything away or making people pay twice for filling the grit bins we already fill, it's purely additional.

"It also wraps up any that have already been provided that may have been ad hoc by other councils that are sat on the highway network we should be aware of. We should know how they're being maintained, how they're being insured and who to contact in case of any issues."

Committee member Cllr Simon Tagg said: "Last winter, particularly January 6, we had well-documented community disapproval of the gritting the county council carried out on North Staffordshire's roads.

"When people see a new policy coming forward, they want to see what has been improved on from the old policy but also what has been learned from particularly last year, which is fresh in people's minds.

"We saw probably not the quality of gritting we have previously seen on Staffordshire's roads.

"I would like to ask what tangible improvements will residents see compared with last winter?

"I know gritting is difficult.

"But on balance last year, particularly in the beginning of that snow episode at the beginning of January, the council was left wanting."

Cllr Mason responded: "I don't accept that characterisation of it. There were challenges, but the challenges were brought about by external circumstances.

"The gritting that took place from the beginning of January, right through that cold snap, was wholly encompassing of the entire primary and secondary routes; two grittings of primary a day and a gritting of secondary every day – at least one. There were no roads that weren't gritted during that period – we have the data and we published it at the time.

"However a couple of things came into play – one was the extreme low temperatures, which brought the road temperatures down to the point where the grit became less effective.

"Because of the low temperatures and the weather traffic volumes fell significantly, and it relies on activation, so we weren't getting the constant activation of it and that resulted in less than efficient outcome.

"What this policy does is ensure that level of service across 40% of the network – one of the highest in the country – is maintained while bringing it into a more modern approach in terms of how we assess what routes should and shouldn't get gritted, with the proviso that where routes fall out of that reassessment, they are being maintained as an exception within the plan."