This bulletin summarises the proceedings of the Assembly plenary meeting which was held at Woking on 5 March.

ORBIT MULTI-MODAL STUDY

At the plenary meeting, the Assembly agreed its formal advice to the Secretary of State on ORBIT - the recent study on orbital travel around London, including the future of the M25.Overall, the Assembly expressed its disappointment with the final ORBIT report and was concerned about its lack of a convincing long term vision and delivery strategy. However, the Assembly did recommend a range of medium term public transport and highway measures which need to be made over the next ten years. These include:·

• Early commitment from the Government to deliver Thameslink 2000 and Crossrail;·
• Additional funding in the next five years for the SRA to develop projects such as Airtrack and East West Rail;·
• The Secretary of State to put much more emphasis on investment in bus and coach networks and measures to help freight movement;·
• Government should commission without delay a study to consider the potential and impacts of a Lower Thames Crossing;·
• The Highways Agency should be instructed to add the following M25 widening schemes to their Targeted Programme of Improvements:
• Junctions 5 to 7, Junctions 16 to 23 and Junctions 27 to 31.

The Assembly also expressed concerns about the report's recommendations for area-wide charging - a charging scheme whereby motorists are charged for all road travel based mainly on the distance travelled - and called on the Government to undertake a national study to consider in detail the feasibility and the environmental, economic and social implications of such a scheme. Until that study can be assessed, the Assembly reserves its position on area-wide charging.The Assembly will now send its formal advice to the Secretary of State. His response is expected before the summer recess.

REGIONAL REFERENDUM

At the plenary meeting the Assembly also agreed its formal response to the Government's soundings on referendums about elected regional assemblies.

The Government will only proceed with elected assembly referendums in those regions where there is a clear appetite for them. The soundings exercise, launched by Regions Minister Nick Raynsford MP last December, sought views from a wide range of bodies in each English region.

The Assembly heard that the received wisdom is that there is little pressure in the South East for a directly elected regional assembly, and that there is unlikely therefore to be interest in a referendum. However, recent surveys indicate that public opinion is probably more evenly balanced on both these issues than expected.

People like to be asked
A public opinion survey commissioned in January 2003 by the county councils in the South East highlighted that 52% of the sample group support the idea of having a referendum while only 25% oppose it. The survey also found that 50% of people are very likely, and a further 22% fairly likely, to vote in a referendum on an elected regional assembly.

In spite of limited knowledge about the proposals for elected assemblies, the survey also found that a small majority was in favour of the South East having one. However, support was found to decline when the Government's proposals were explained further. The coupling of elected assemblies to local government reorganisation in particular is seen as a distraction. In addition, among Assembly members themselves, 37% support, while 63% oppose a referendum.

The Assembly will now send its formal response to the Secretary of State.

REGIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGY FOR TOURISM

The Assembly at its meeting agreed the submission of the revised and modified Regional Spatial Strategy for Tourism to the Secretary of State for its eventual incorporation into Regional Planning Guidance (RPG).

On the whole, the consultation draft of the Strategy was well received and members did not therefore consider it necessary to make substantial changes to the draft document. There was, however, criticism that the draft did not draw out the particular qualities of the South East in tourism terms sufficiently clearly and that its definition of tourism priority areas was inadequate. Both these aspects were corrected in the modified version which the Assembly approved.

The modified Strategy, which comprises two parts - Part A, the formal submission for incorporation into RPG, and Part B, a supporting statement - will now be submitted to Government by the end of April and the public examination of the Strategy is expected in late 2003.

REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Assembly also agreed the submission of the Regional Strategy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to Government.

Like the Tourism Strategy, this Strategy was well received and it was therefore not necessary to make substantial changes. It was, however, agreed that the overall targets for the achievement of renewable energy capacity should be increased. The Strategy now states that by 2010, at least 5.5% of our electricity should be generated from renewable energy sources and this should increase to at least 16% by 2026.

Like the Tourism Strategy, the modified document comes in two parts and will be submitted to Government by the end of April.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Abolition of Local Authority Social Housing Grant
At the meeting on 5 March, the Assembly expressed its concerns about the Government's sudden decision to cease the Local Authority Social Housing Grant.

Despite Lord Rooker's welcome announcement on the same day that there would be £110 million increase in transitional funding to help provide affordable housing, the Assembly still felt that the Government's decision could jeopardise the region's ability to increase dramatically the supply of affordable housing in the region.

The Assembly will be calling on the Government to reconsider its decision and also to ensure that all committed schemes receive the resources to proceed and that those in the pipeline are not jeopardised.

Budget and Subscription Arrangements 2003-2004
Following the Government's move to direct funding for the regional planning element of the Assembly's work, it was necessary for the Assembly to revisit its budget for 2003-2004. At the meeting on 5 March, the Assembly agreed:

• A revised budget for 2003-2004 of £2.3m;
• To return to a rate-per-vote subscription system linked to voting power in the Assembly.

The Assembly also agreed that the Executive Committee would be responsible for agreeing the delivery plan to draw down the additional funding that the Government intends to make available to the Assembly through the Planning Development Grant. These grants (worth £581,000 to the South East in 2003-2004) have been made available to regional planning bodies to help fund activities associated with implementing the Communities Plan and the new regional planning regime emerging from the Planning Bill.

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Last updated: 21 August 2007