Agenda item

Cllr Martin Tett introduced Patricia Hayes (Director General for Roads, Devolution and Motoring at the Department for Transport) who spoke to the Board on a variety of issues, including;

·         The Bus Services Bill – including the Government’s intention reverse the amendments made in the Lords in order to provide a broader, more varied toolkit to make bus service management easier for local government.

·         Street works permitting

·         Consolidating funding streams for local transport – including the allocation of the first tranche of additional money promised in the Autumn Statement by needs-based formula instead of a bidding process.

·         The Autumn Statement

Discussion

Board members raised the following issues concerning bus services and congestion;

·         The viability of franchising as a solution to the increasing divergence between high frequency, high volume urban routes and less frequent, lower quality rural routes.

·         The potential for central and local government to work together to promote bus travel as a transport option.

·         The importance of reducing emissions through geener, more innovative services

·         The proper implementation of the traffic management act to funding agreed transport and road services.

·         The importance of devolving further transport powers to local authorities, including the enforcement of traffic offences.

·         Lower relative investment in the north of England compared to other parts of the county.

Board members raised the following issues concerning roads funding;

·         The lack of available funding for roads.

·         The possibility of the Department for Transport (DfT) working with the LGA to pilot flexible approaches to using existing capital to fund road investment.

·         The importance of cycling as part of a broad transport package.

·         The role of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in promoting transport priorities, especially in relation to sub national transport boards.

In response, Tricia Hayes raised the following issues;

·         The potential for innovation in providing bus services, including de-siloed funding and community transport for non-viable routes.

·         The importance of tackling emissions through the opportunities provided by the Bus Services Bill, as well as highlighting the Government’s own work on the issue.

·         Tackling congestion through streetworks management, permitting, decriminalised parking enforcement, working with policy and emergency services after accidents, improvement maintenance and smart cities agenda.

·         The DfT’s work with organisations such as the LGA and Transport for the North to explore further devolution of transport powers and other solutions to existing problems.

·         The future potential for traffic management act implementation.

·         The new funding pool available for transport infrastructure announced in the Autumn statement

·         She updated the Board on progress with the allocation of funding for cycling infrastructure, including its heavy oversubscription the potential for future investment.

·         The importance of LEPs in promoting solutions which address economic development, transport and health needs simultaneously.

·         She updated the Board on the DfT’s work with Transport for the North and Midlands Connect, as well as other regional boards.

Tricia Hayes concluded by stating that she had received clear messages around commencement of part 6 of the Traffic Management Act, rural bus strategies and congestion.

Cllr Martin Tett invited Tricia to a future meeting of the Board.

Decisions

The Board;

1.    Noted the DfT’s priorities for the coming year.

2.    Discussed areas of mutual interest between the Board and DfT.

3.    Explored areas for effective collaboration.

4.    Invited Tricia Hayes to a future Board meeting.

Action

Officers to invite the Director General for Roads, Devolution and Motoring to a subsequent board meeting.