Highway Improvement Schemes & Local Transport Plan

Report of the Head of Countywide Improvement to the Joint Transportation Board

Matters for Information

Summary

1. Progress update on highway improvement schemes in the current year’s programme and Member Highway Fund Schemes. The outline process for developing the third Local Transport Plan for Kent 2011-16 including contents of emerging programme and an update on the Scheme Prioritisation System.

Highway Improvement Schemes 2010-11

2. On 25 March 2010, Kent County Council’s (KCC’s) Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste announced the programme of works that would comprise the Integrated Transport Strategy 2010-11. 

3. On June 29 2010, as a result of the national savings in spending that the Government recently announced, KCC published details of those schemes it expected to be affected by a £4.1 million reduction in this year’s integrated transport budget.  These savings were confirmed at the meeting of Cabinet on 12 July 2010 and were reported to the last meeting of the Joint Transportation Board.

4. The gas main replacement at Coxheath is now complete and a Stage 3 Safety Audit has been commissioned to review the traffic calming scheme. The outcome from this will be reported once complete.

Member Highway Fund Schemes

5. Some schemes affected by the Government reductions may yet receive partial funding from Kent County Council Members through the dedicated fund that each Member has to spend on roads in their area.  Other schemes that have already received funding approval from this budget and are in the process of being designed or constructed are:

6. Schemes that have been funded from the Kent County Council Members Highway Fund and have been completed are:

Local Transport Plan 3

7. The Local Transport Plan process is the mechanism for funding and delivering local transport improvements. As part of this process, local transport authorities are required to have a Local Transport Plan (known as LTP3) in place by 1 April 2011 which should consist of a Strategy (challenges, vision, objectives, policies etc) and an Implementation Plan (measures and actions to achieve the LTP3 objectives).

8. In March 2006, the KCC Transport Policy Team submitted the “Local Transport Plan for Kent 2006-11” to the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Government Office for the South East (GoSE). Essentially, LTP2 is a bidding document to central government showing how KCC will deliver local transport objectives for the five year period based on the funding levels expected from government. It outlines KCC’s policies for transport and shows how they deliver against national transport objectives, with progress being assessed through a range of indicators and targets. Recent guidance from the DfT proposes major changes for LTP3. It is a statutory requirement to have an LTP3 in place on 1 April 2011, which should consist of a separate “strategy” and “implementation plan”, but it is up to the local authority to determine the timescales for each, and these can differ for each document. The guidance states that the overall quality of LTP will be taken into account by DfT in decisions on challenge funding or for major projects but clearly states that the new freedoms and flexibilities "places responsibility firmly on individual authorities to consider how to use the Local Transport Planning framework in the way which works best for them".

9. The Guidance also confirms that the government does not intend to link any national performance funding to the quality or delivery of new LTPs. The Government has put in place three year local government settlements and ten year regional funding indicative allocations, and capital funding for both block allocations and major schemes is now subject to Regional Funding Advice. We are awaiting further information on this, which will follow the conclusion of the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

10. Since LTPs only cover a short time period, it is Government’s expectation that they are informed by a longer-term transport strategy. The County Council recently launched its vision for a 21st Century Kent, outlining how it will meet the challenges to support housing and economic growth, employment and the skills needed for this century. Supporting this is the ability for the people of Kent to access jobs, services and opportunities and in response, an Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) titled “Growth Without Gridlock” has been written.

11. This strategy outlines a longer term vision for Kent’s transport network and explains how it will meet the demands of housing and economic growth, an ageing population while at the same time reducing our emissions to combat climate change. The Strategy outlines a network that gives greater choice and encourages travel by means other than the private car. Each of the transport modes and their issues and challenges are described with a range of proposals which are then applied to the different areas of the County. The key proposals in the ITS are an integrated bus network, maximising the benefits of high speed rail, key infrastructure and promoting flexible working which reduces the need to travel during the peak.

12. The draft Local Transport Plan 3 is currently out to consultation with a deadline for comments set to the end of the year to allow for the final LTP3 to be adopted by the end of March 2011.

Accountable Officers:             Gary Peak & Andy Corcoran             08458 247 800