Memorandum by the Local Government Association
(TYP 49)
1. The Association welcomes the opportunity
to comment on this inquiry. However, the time given for written
submissions is inadequate for any detailed consideration to be
given to the large number of questions asked. The inquiry has
been brought to the attention of the Association's member authorities,
and of local authority officer societies. It is likely that they
will find responding within the time given equally as difficult,
especially in view of the intervening holiday break.
THE ASSUMPTIONS
MADE
2. It is inevitable that assumptions made
about developments which affect demand for and use of various
modes of transport and of transport infrastructure will need to
be re-visited over any 10 year period. Political and international
events not directly related to domestic transport policy can affect
both demand and costs. This is particularly the case when some
of the assumptions relate to high levels of private sector investment,
over which the Government may have influence, but not full control.
The Association understands that the 10 Year Plan will be flexible
enough to allow regular reviews to take place, for example, of
whether the targets are likely to be met by the initiatives put
in place. This is the case with local authority five year Local
Transport Plans, and indeed is a key element for their continued
funding through the capital grant system. On the other hand, firm
commitments in the 10 Year Plan to deliver on major improvements
to, for example, the railway network and local road maintenance,
which will take a number of years to deliver, must not be affected
by any changes to assumptions.
3. The Association is not able to give any
estimate of how many congestion charging schemes are likely to
be introduced and when. The legislation was not in place outside
London at the time of publication of the Plan and the DTLR's formal
guidance to authorities on how to manage the more complex schemes
has not been published. This is likely to have considerable bearing
on the extent to which the option is taken up at local level.
Similarly, evidence of successful operation of initial congestion
charging schemes, in both traffic management and political terms,
is likely to encourage additional authorities to give the option
further consideration. The recent lack of clarity by the Government
about its views on the Mayor's London proposals will be affecting
the consideration likely to be given by other authorities. Assumptions
made in the 10 Year Plan about the implementation of policies
for which legislation was not in place at the time of publication,
such as the number of congestion charging schemes to be in operation
of the Plan's period, are bound to be reliant to a degree on subsequent
events proceeding as expected. The intensity of political debate
on national transport policy is high at the moment and this is
certain to have some effect on future major policy proposals put
forward by all of the main political parties.
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
4. The SRA has just published its Rail Plan,
with many cross-references to the 10 Year Plan's targets. The
LGA has not had the opportunity to examine the Plan in detail
before submitting these comments and it cannot give any estimate
as to the effect of the contents of the Plan on private sector
confidence. The Rail Plan mentions that there will be an extra
£4.5 billion provided to rail over the 10 year period. The
Association would hope that this is indeed "extra" and
not a transfer of resources from commitments previously given
in other parts of the 10 Year Plan.
5. Balancing between large and small scale
schemes is always difficult, particularly over such a long period.
Political and other factors may affect the number and type of
major schemes which are given the go-ahead over the period. Of
course, being given the "go-ahead" is not always quite
the same as actually starting construction—a criticism often
raised at some recurring rail proposals in recent decades. Small
schemes are important, as they sometimes can deliver significant
results for relatively small investment. The 10 Year Plan is mainly
about capital spending and at local government level there have
been concerns expressed on numerous occasions that the relationship
between capital and revenue spending is often not as good as it
might be. For example, all new roads will need cleaning and repairing.
Whilst some 10 Year Plan resources have been allocated to local
road structural repairs, firmer commitments from Government about
longer-term relationships between capital and revenue spending
are always welcome. The Government has instigated a number of
temporary grant mechanisms in the transport field in recent years—arguably
too many. Whilst these do ensure the provision of some readily
identified additional local benefits, they do not come with a
long-term funding guarantee. During the course of the Plan period
the DTLR will need to think very carefully how the funding of
these initiatives is to be re-integrated into the mainstream without
the related new benefits potentially being lost.
CONCLUSION
6. If the Sub-committee identifies a small
number of specific issues which it wishes to pursue in more detail
as this inquiry proceeds, the Association would be willing to
consider submitting supplementary evidence. In the meantime the
Association hopes that these initial comments on some of the principal
sections set out in the invitation for evidence are helpful
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