House of Commons - Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs

Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Third Special Report

APPENDIX

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE NINTH REPORT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ON THE INTEGRATED TRANSPORT WHITE PAPER.

Forward by the Deputy Prime Minister

I would like to express my personal thanks to the members of the Committee for their extensive work on DETR's policies and proposals, and in particular our Integrated Transport White Paper.

As we approach the beginning of the 21st century, we are entering a new era in transport policy.

There is a growing consensus that we cannot go on as we have been. Traffic congestion is already a major problem for our economy, for our environment, for our health and for motorists themselves. Twenty years ago there were 70 cars per mile of road. Despite road building, by 1997 there were 100 cars per mile of road.

Building our way out of congestion is not an option. And failing to tackle congestion is the worst policy for the motorist and the country. We have to use public transport more and use our cars more wisely.

That is why in the first comprehensive Transport White Paper in twenty years, we proposed:

to improve public transport to increase travel choice;

to improve the existing road infrastructure by better maintenance and traffic management;

to take an integrated approach to transport and the range of Government policies

I am pleased that the Committee broadly welcomes our proposals including tougher regulation of the railways, higher quality bus services, the integration of transport and planning policies and road-user pricing with the proceeds used to improve local transport.

We are in substantial agreement with the overwhelming majority of the Committee's recommendations. Even though we are not moving as far or as fast as the Committee would wish, the Committee acknowledged that we are moving in the right direction.

I trust the Committee's Ninth Report and this response will be milestones on the way to a better transport system for Britain.

Introduction

The Government's transport White Paper "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone" was published in July 1998; the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee's inquiry began later the same year. The outcome of that inquiry was the Committee's Ninth Report, which expressed support for the aims of the White Paper and set out recommendations on a number of areas of the integrated transport strategy.

This document constitutes the Government's formal response to that Report on the Integrated Transport White Paper. The Committee's recommendations are shown in bold throughout, with the relevant paragraph number in the committee's report in brackets. They are grouped into general topic areas.

The Committee undertook its inquiry prior to the inauguration of the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. The Welsh and Scottish administrations have now assumed the newly devolved powers and Northern Ireland is moving towards devolution. Following these constitutional changes, some policies will continue to be developed on a UK basis, others on an England and Wales basis and others for England only. Where matters come under the authority of the new devolved bodies, this response does not reflect their implementation of policy.

Commission for Integrated Transport

(bbb) We recommend that a single body, probably the Commission for Integrated Transport, be given responsibility for monitoring the progress of all the relevant agencies in achieving the White Paper's objectives on integration. Performance indicators should be introduced in order to monitor progress with integration, for example, by measuring the proportion of advertised rail and bus-rail connections that are not kept. The Commission should publish an Annual Report which would indicate the progress made (paragraph 231).

The Department will lead in the implementation of the Government's integrated transport strategy, set out in A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone. A key part of the role of the Commission for Integrated Transport will be reviewing and monitoring progress towards the objectives of the strategy. It will advise Government on drawing up new targets to support the policy, particularly in relation to national road traffic and public transport, and it will publish an Annual Report on progress. It will be for the Commission to consider where there is a role for targets on the reliability of rail and bus-rail connections.

(ccc) If the Commission for Integrated Transport is to assume a wider role, it must be given the resources to examine all the issues that are referred to it. Potential members should be informed that more than 1-2 days work per month will be expected (paragraph 232).

The Commission will determine the programme it is able to progress in the light of the resources available. It will also be for the Commission to decide whether it wishes to bring in others to assist, for example in working groups on specific issues. It is important that Commission members are able to pursue their own outside roles to ensure that the expertise they bring remains up to date, and so 1 - 2 days per month is an appropriate guideline. Nonetheless, we recognise that individual members may be able to devote more time than this to help the Chair and Vice-Chair progress the agenda.

(f) Several important issues relating to policy on the future of roads and road traffic need to be resolved, including the setting of national targets; the role of new road construction; and the appraisal of new trunk roads. We recommend that the Commission for Integrated Transport make it a priority to examine these issues (paragraph 74).

The Commission is in the process of formulating its work programme. Its remit as set out in the Integrated Transport White Paper includes advice on national road traffic targets and revisions to National Road Traffic forecasts. Policy on the role of new construction is set out in the A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England: Understanding the New Approach to Appraisal. It will be for the Commission to consider whether it wishes to consider the findings of the multi-modal corridor studies, which are intended to inform the preparation of regional transport strategies and for which we are developing a multi-modal version of the new approach to appraisal.