Regional development agencies and the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill - Business and Enterprise Committee Contents


Memorandum submitted by The RAC Foundation for Motoring

1.  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  The RAC Foundation for Motoring is an independent charity established to promote and conduct research into the environmental, economic, mobility and safety issues relating to use of motor vehicles. Our vision is to advocate innovative transport solutions for safer roads, safer drivers, greener cars, improved mobility and a fair deal for motorists.

  1.2  The Foundation welcomes the Committee's inquiry into the future role of Regional Development Agencies (RDA), which is timely. England requires housing, education, employment and transport transformation to accommodate the country's rapidly growing population and RDAs have a crucial and increasing role to play in this process, which must be adequately supported by policy and financial provision.

  1.3  If RDAs are to take on a wider remit, which includes roads, they should be required to work within a comprehensive national roads policy framework, and be provided with adequate funding to meet these new responsibilities.

2.  THE NEED FOR A LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS AND REGENERATION POLICY BETWEEN CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

  2.1  RDAs provide an essential link between central and local government to encourage economic, business and regeneration policy. However, problems come when the relevant finances are not allocated to RDAs to perform their functions adequately. Where transport is concerned this was seen to be the case in the recently published A12 inquiry (Essex County Council, 2008), where the road in question did not receive adequate attention from any one authority body.

  2.2  If RDAs are to continue to provide a link between central and local government, commensurate funding to support this role must be forthcoming. This is particularly vital if transport is to be included in the RDAs future, expanded remit, as transport, by its nature extends across local government boundaries, with distinct regional and national requirements. These are well documented in the RAC Foundation's (2007) Roads and Reality Report as well as in the Eddington Transport Study (2006).

3.  THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RDAS AND THEIR ROLE IN ADDING VALUE

  3.1  Due to limited funding streams for RDAs their effectiveness to date has been limited. There is significant potential for these bodies to add value at the regional level where transport is concerned, but this must not be at the expense of a coherent strategic road network, which meets regional and national needs cost effectively.

  3.2  The RAC Foundation (2007) "Roads and Reality" report concluded that; "The Eddington Report has outlined the importance of overcoming the difficult challenges which those responsible for planning and developing the transport systems must face if transport is to support economic growth and provide for increasing demand. For this job to be done successfully there must be clarity of responsibility at all levels for the bodies involved in planning and delivery with simple and effective arrangements for liaison". Present arrangements do not meet these criteria: this has also been highlighted within the Nichols report.

4.  RDA EXPERTISE

  4.1  Skills are a concern that reaches across all sectors and is particularly acute in planning. If RDAs are to maintain their position, it is essential that employment packages be provided in a way that attracts skilled employees.

5.  THE EXTENT AND NEED FOR OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES

  5.1  It is important for bodies such as RDAs to experience and share best practice amongst colleagues, but from a regional perspective it is unlikely that comprehensive overseas activities will be the best use of funds available for improving the economic vitality of the regions. Attracting new business and funding to an area is undoubtedly important, but this must be in proportion and is a function possibly best dealt with at a national rather than a regional policy level.

6.  CONSEQUENCES OF EXPANDING THE RDA REMIT TO INCLUDE NEW FUNCTIONS

  6.1  Expanding RDA functions to take on the current role of the regional assemblies to address the totality of issues affecting a region is welcome, but the capacity of the system to deal with these new remits must be in place and appropriate.

  6.2  If RDAs are given extended functions it is essential that central government does not simply defer difficult decisions about national policies and infrastructure to RDAs on the pretence that such decisions are "regional matters". The RDAs will only work properly if they carry out their work within a clear national framework and, for roads, this requires a comprehensive national road network and policies to which a regional dimension can be added, without detracting from or obstructing national projects or policies.

  6.3  For the network of major roads to operate as effectively as possible, planning and management must reflect all of the local, regional and national concerns. Recent moves towards devolving decisions about investment for regional strategic roads to regional bodies has tended to mean that the national dimension of strategic road planning has not been adequately considered, therefore working against the objective that the investments with the highest returns get the highest priority.

  6.4  The impact of further devolving transport to the regions, without adequate finances and a national view on strategic priorities should be approached with caution. RDAs must have the resources and financial freedoms to match their responsibilities. Current attempts to build Regional Infrastructure Funds suggest that this is not currently the case.

  6.5  If National Road Pricing were to become a reality, there would be a powerful case for setting up a National Roads Corporation or similar organisation, to distribute and manage the collected finances appropriately, with a strategic eye on capacity provision.

7.  THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF RDAS

  7.1  Accountability and transparency is essential to the effective running of RDAs. They must be, as is now the case, accountable to central Government, but with enough jurisdiction and financial independence to make decisions on projects and funding with most relevance to the region. With the imminent demise of Regional Assemblies the issue of "democratic accountability" of RDAs must be investigated and resolved.

8.  RDA PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

  8.1  The RAC Foundation is not equipped to provide detailed analysis or comment on the benefits or failings of existing performance management processes in RDAs. By way of general comment, it is important that the measurements in place adequately reflect the changing nature of the respective region and that they are meaningful and comparable.

19 September 2008






 
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