News Release : 11 October 2005

NEW REGIONAL BOOST FOR TRANSPORT

South East England’s Regional Transport Board has reached agreement on transport investment priorities totaling £900 million over the next five years.

The Board, a partnership of regional and local authorities under the auspices of the Regional Assembly, hammered out a transport investment programme of 33 schemes - 20 on which work is already advanced. The Board arrived at its priorities with the help of a groundbreaking technique developed by the Regional Assembly to compare investment proposals on a clear and consistent basis. This approach ensures that the region’s top priorities for transport reflect the key objectives of agreed regional strategies, such as the South East Plan and Regional Economic Strategy.

Before it is finalised, the list of schemes from last Friday’s Transport Board will be double-checked against planned housing and economic development spending in the region, to ensure that the region’s priorities line up. The transport investment programme then forms the region’s advice to Government to be submitted at the end of January 2006, in time for the new financial year.

Not all the programme is recommended for funding from the regional transport budget, which next year amounts to £135m. The Board identified some schemes for alternative funding through the Transport Innovation Fund and rail franchising; it is also seeking an earlier start for the new A3 improvement at Hindhead by exploring a Private Finance Initiative style approach (Design Build Finance Operate).

In developing its advice to Government the Transport Board worked with all 19 local transport authorities across South East England, with the Government Office for the South East, SEEDA, the Highways Agency, and the Strategic Rail Authority (now DfT Rail).

Cllr Nick Skellett, the newly elected Chairman of the Regional Transport Board, said: “A critical step in the decision-making process for improving infrastructure in the region was made on Friday (7 October).

The Board stepped up to this challenge and we must acknowledge it is not an easy task to get full agreement across the region on where money should be invested over the next five years. It is the first time that we have been able to plan future investment with the necessary clarity and certainty.”

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Heather Bolton, Head of Communications - 01483 555220

Notes to editors:

1. The regional funding allocations for 2005/06 is £135 million, increasing on an annual basis to £167 million in 2015/16. Total expenditure for transport within the region in 2004/05 is about £1.658 billion.
   
   
2. See table for agreed regional programme for the South East from 2006 to 2011.
   
   
3. The Regional Transport Board members: Cllr Nick Skellett – Regional Assembly and Chairman of the Board (Surrey County Council), Cllr Jill Baston – Regional Assembly (Southampton City Council), Cllr John Howarth – Regional Assembly (Reading), Cllr Mary Ballin – Regional Assembly (Bracknell Forest Borough Council), Tim Lockwood – Regional Assembly (Economic Partners), Pam Palmer – Regional Assembly (Social and Environmental Partners), John Peel (SEEDA), Andy Roberts (Government Office for the South East), Ian Hepburn (South East Forum for Sustainability), Gwyn Drake (Highways Agency), Clive King (Confederation of Passenger Transport) and Network Rail (to be invited to attend).
   
   
4. Regional Transport Board papers are available in our meetings section.
   
   
5. Please contact the Assembly for Cllr Nick Skellett’s photo.
   
   
6. 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.
   
   
7. The Assembly is made up of 112 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).
   
   
8. 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

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