Issue - meetings

The Executive Board considered the attached report:-

RECOMMENDED: That

(1)         the Local Transport Settlement and indicative allocations covering the Comprehensive Spending Review Period be noted;

(2)         Council be recommended to approve the following sums for incorporation into the Council’s Capital Programme for 2011/12:

Transport Implementation Programme £2,663,000;

Transport Major Scheme Capital Funding (SJB) £4,416,000;

Street Lighting £200,000;

Flood Defence £106,000;

Fleet Replacements £370,000.

(3)         authority to agree the detailed programme of schemes, based where appropriate upon the four year implementation Programme described in the Local Transport Plan 3, be delegated to the Strategic Director Policy and Resources, in consultation with the Executive Board Member for Transportation; and

(4)         a bid for funding from the Government’s Sustainable Transport Fund be prepared for presentation to the Board before submission to Department for Transport by 24^th February 2012.

The Executive Board had considered a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources on the Transport Capital Implementation Programme 2011/12.

RESOLVED: That Council

(1)         Note the Local Transport Settlement and indicative allocations covering the Comprehensive Spending Review Period;

(2)         approve the following sums for incorporation into the Council’s Capital Programme for 2011/12:

Transport Implementation Programme £2,663,000;

Transport Major Scheme Capital Funding (SJB) £4,416,000;

Street Lighting £200,000;

Flood Defence £106,000;

Fleet Replacements £370,000.

(3)         give authority to agree the detailed programme of schemes, based where appropriate upon the four year implementation Programme described in the Local Transport Plan 3, to be delegated to the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, in consultation with the Executive Board Member for Transportation; and

(4)         approve a bid for funding from the Government’s Sustainable Transport Fund to be prepared for presentation to the Board before submission to Department for Transport by 24^th February 2012.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources on the Transport Capital Implementation Programme 2011/12.

The Board was reminded that Halton’s third Local Transport Plan (LTP3) was approved by the Executive Board on 17^th March 2011. The key issues for Transport in Halton, identified through the public consultation exercise for LTP3 were listed in Appendix 1.  LTP3 contained within its Implementation Plan Appendix (and also within the Executive Summary) details of the Government’s final local transport capital block settlements for 2011/12 and 2012/13 and indicative settlements for 2013/14 and 2014/15, which covered the whole period of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR10). 

As part of CSR10, the Board noted that the Department for Transport  announced a radical simplification of local transport funding, moving from 26 separate grant streams to just four:

·        block funding for small transport improvement schemes – the Integrated Transport Block (capital);

·        block funding for highways maintenance (capital);

·        major schemes (capital); and

·        a new local sustainable transport fund (capital and revenue).

All other specific grants were ended with reduced allocations incorporated within the main Local Government Formula Grant administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government.   The grants no longer available to the Council were listed in Appendix 2.

The report provided supporting information on the local authority integrated transport block and highway capital maintenance allocations, calculated through needs-based formulae. The settlement represented a significant reduction in transport funding from previous years.  It was noted that the Integrated Transport budget was cut by 61% (to £1.087 million) and the Highway Capital Maintenance budget was cut by 9% (to £207,000), compared with the original 2010/11 allocations. 

RESOLVED: That

(1)         the Local Transport Settlement and indicative allocations covering the Comprehensive Spending Review Period be noted;

(2)         Council be recommended to approve the following sums for incorporation into the Council’s Capital Programme for 2011/12:

Transport Implementation Programme £2,663,000;

Transport Major Scheme Capital Funding (SJB) £4,416,000;

Street Lighting £200,000;

Flood Defence £106,000;

Fleet Replacements £370,000.

(1)         authority to agree the detailed programme of schemes, based where appropriate upon the four year implementation Programme described in the Local Transport Plan 3, be delegated to the Strategic Director Policy and Resources, in consultation with the Executive Board Member for Transportation; and

(2)         a bid for funding from the Government’s Sustainable Transport Fund be prepared for presentation to the Board before submission to Department for Transport by 24^th February 2012.