REGIONAL ASSEMBLY CALLS FOR URGENT REVIEW OF TRANSPORT REVENUE FUNDING

THE SOUTH EAST ENGLAND REGIONAL ASSEMBLY’S PLANNING COMMITTEE URGES THE SECRETARY OF STATE to improve revenue funding for transport schemes. The region needs a transformation of its revenue funding if public transport services are to be improved and sustained.

An independent Panel which examined the Assembly’s draft Regional Transport Strategy (January 2003) accepted the Assembly’s case that the Government needs to provide a more positive and flexible funding climate. The Panel shared the Assembly’s concern about the evident imbalance between national highway schemes and public transport services. It recommended that the Government urgently addresses the implications of inadequate revenue funding because of its significance for delivery of national and regional transport policies.

The Assembly is welcoming the Panel’s report and recommendations, however the Regional Planning Committee strongly disagrees with its recommendation on the Regional Frame. The Frame defines four areas/corridors which need to be developed to enhance intra and inter-regional movements by people using any means of transport. The South Coast Corridor is one of these areas that is defined as a priority for transport improvements. The Panel suggests removing the Regional Frame from the Strategy. However, the Committee believes it is vital that the Regional Frame remains in the Strategy as it sets the long-term regional transport context. The Frame particularly stresses improving the East-West links.

Councillor Keith Mitchell, Chairman of the Regional Planning Committee and Leader of Oxfordshire County Council commented: "This is the first Regional Transport Strategy in the country to be examined by an independent Panel. We are pleased that the Panel recognises that the Regional Assembly is showing leadership on how to deal with the pressures facing our transport system. We are on the right track, but we continue to lack indispensable revenue funding to deliver improved Local Transport Plans and, particularly, public transport services. We look to the Secretary of State to remedy this deficiency as soon as possible."

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007