To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail how her Department's road gritting policy considers (i) preventing school closures; and (ii) ensuring children can travel to school safely.

The current winter service policy and procedures operated by my Department utilises the widely accepted practice of targeting limited resources for this service on the higher trafficked main through routes and can be viewed on the Department’s website below.

https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/winter-service-rsppg-e022

The application of this policy means that 28% of the total road network, which carries around 80% of traffic, is salted. Route treatment is primarily based on traffic volume not road classification.

Once the condition of the Primary Salting Network is assured, secondary salting may be undertaken on other, more rural roads, particularly during prolonged periods of hazardous weather. These decisions are taken by experienced engineers who review all available data and Met office expert opinion. This Secondary Salting Network currently gives priority to 80 rural schools across the North.

In addition to this, all schools which have requested a salt bin or grit pile has been provided with a box on either the public road frontage or a grit pile on the shortest route connecting the school to the salting network.

It must, however, be emphasised that the service provided cannot eliminate the risks – even on roads that are gritted, ice free conditions cannot be guaranteed.

The decision to close a school during adverse weather is taken on an individual basis by the school’s Principal / Governing body, taking many factors into account, aside from whether it is located on the salted network.