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• What is the South East England Regional Assembly?
• What are the Regional Assembly's Key Work Areas?
• What is the South East Plan?
• What is the South East England Regional Housing Board?
• What is the South East England Regional Transport Board?
• Fact or Fiction?

What is the Regional Transport Board?

1. What is the Regional Transport Board?
The South East England Regional Transport Board (RTB) is a partnership board chaired by the South East England Regional Assembly.

The RTB meets four times a year and gives advice on all aspects of delivery and implementation of regional transport projects. It has five principal roles:

• Provides advice to Government on strategic transport matters.
• Prioritises the region's transport improvements and spending using transparent methods.
• Advises Government on the allocation of regional transport funds.
• Reviews the delivery of transport infrastructure
• Seeks to align the region's transport strategy and delivery with other regional policies and implementation frameworks

2. Who sits on the RTB?
The RTB comprises six Assembly members plus representatives from SEEDA (the Regional Development Agency), Government Office, Highways Agency, the Confederation of Passenger Transport and Network Rail.

3. Can members of the public attend meetings?
Yes, members of the public can attend RTB meetings as observers, but are not able to participate.

There is a standing invitation to elected transport portfolio members in the South East region's 19 transport authorities to contribute to discussions affecting the area they represent.

4. What are the RTB's priorities?
The RTB's priority transport projects are contained in the Regional Transport Programme. This programme identifies 79 major transport projects that are scheduled to start during 2006-16.

Examples of regional transport priorities funded through the RFA include:

• A3 Hindhead Improvements - 6.5 km stretch of dual carriageway including two tunnels under the Devil's Punchbowl, Surrey
• Fastrack Phase 1 - a high quality bus service for North Kent and Kent Thameside
• Copnor Bridge Replacement - updating one of the three main roads into Portsmouth
• East Kent Access Phase 1 - improved access along the A256 "Sandwich Corridor"
• A27 Southerham to Beddingham - improvements on the Sussex coast

Other sources of funding for transport priorities include Government's community infrastructure fund and growth area funding. Some projects are also funded by contributions from local developers.

5. What is the Regional Funding Allocation?
Government gives each region a funding allocation for transport and asks them for advice on how this should be spent. The aim is to give the region the opportunity to improve strategy co-ordination and provide an enhanced input into Government policy development and future spending decisions. The RTB is responsible for a budget of £150 million a year.

The region's advice to Government on South East transport priorities was in two parts - 2006-11 submitted in January 2006, and 2011-16 submitted in December 2006. Both have been approved in full by Government.

The full regional transport programme and the RTB's work is available online here.