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ITEM EX7

EXECUTIVE – 17 APRIL 2002

TRANSPORT CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2002/03 TO 2004/05

Report by Director of Environmental Services and Director of Business Support & County Treasurer

1. This report seeks approval for the schemes proposed to be included in the Transport Capital Programme for 2002/03 under the six main budget headings set out the Local Transport Plan (LTP) and identifies those schemes that are proposed to be included provisionally in the programmes for 2003/04 and 2004/05.

Background

2. At its meeting on the 22 January 2002 the Executive agreed a Capital Programme that included £18,613m for transport and resolved that the allocation for Structural Maintenance should be maintained at broadly the same level as in 2001/02 (£10.5m) and the allocations to the remaining programme areas be reduced in proportion to the previously approved allocations for 2002/03, taking into account existing commitments, and the availability of On-Street Parking Surpluses and Developer Contributions.
3. The allocations of the transport element of the Single Capital Pot (SCP) between the 6 main budget headings for 2002/03, set out in Annex 1, were approved by the Executive at its meeting on the 19 February, as a basis for developing the detailed programmes for each budget area. In addition, Annex 1 shows the provisional allocations for the main budget areas for the period 2003/04 to 2005/06 that were approved, as a basis for developing future year’s programmes.
4. At the 19 February meeting, the Executive was also advised of the proposed overall funding available for the 2002/03 Transport Capital Programme, including developer contributions, On Street Parking Surpluses (OSPS) and funding from other authorities. There are constraints on how this additional funding, both in timing and location, can be allocated and these constraints have been taken into account in developing the proposed programme for 2002/03 and future years.

Development of the 2002/03 Programme

5. A key factor in developing the proposed programme for 2002/03 is the feasibility of actually incurring the expenditure within the financial year. Unlike the SCP, which is only valid for one year, Supplementary Credit Approvals (SCA) were valid for two years, providing some flexibility in the programming of schemes. The timescale requirements for informal and formal consultations, design and procurement, impose severe constraints on including new schemes (i.e. those where some work has not already been undertaken) in the 2002/03 programme.
6. The 2002/03 programme has also been developed without the benefit of a comprehensive assessment framework for evaluating and comparing requests for schemes. However, the proposed programme takes account of previous commitments, policy objectives, deliverability and community concerns. It is recognised that for future programmes new systems are required to enable a better correlation between needs and allocations. A report later on this agenda proposes a comprehensive assessment framework for dealing with requests from local communities which, if approved, will be used to develop the programme for 2003/04 and beyond.
7. In previous years the Transport Capital Programme has not been approved until the May meetings of the former Highways & Road Safety and Public Transport Sub-Committees, after the out-turn figures for the previous year were known and the amount of unused SCA from the previous year that could be used to support the new year’s programme was known. It is currently estimated that there will be an end of year underspend of the £18,454m SCA for 2001/02 (valid for 2 years) of between £2m and £3m. This has been recognised in developing the County Council’s 2002/03 Revenue and Capital budgets and £2m of this 2001/02 SCA has been used to fund maintenance schemes carried out in 2001/02 that otherwise would have been funded from revenue, reducing the amount of 2001/02 SCA being carried forward. Consequently, it will be necessary to re-finance some of the 2001/02 schemes that have yet to be completed.
8. As the approval of the programme has now been brought forward to mid April, the detailed out-turn figures for 2001/02 are not yet known and therefore the exact expenditure on the schemes funded from the 2000/01 SCA, but undertaken during 2001/02, or the expenditure of the 2001/02 SCA to the end of March is not known. However, any unused SCA from 2000/01 will be allocated towards funding 2001/02 schemes, as it has to be spent by the end of March 2002 or it is lost, thus releasing an equivalent amount of 2001/02 SCA to support the 2001/02 schemes that have already been completed.
9. This will mean that there may be some additional 2001/02 SCA available to support 2001/02 schemes that are either in progress or are programmed to start during 2002/03. In the absence of the final out-turn figures it has been decided to re-finance any 2001/02 schemes that had not started by the 31 March 2002 and include them in the 2002/03 programme. It will not be until all the 2001/02 schemes funded from 2001/02 SCA have been completed later in the year that the amount of any additional funding that may become available to support the 2002/03 programme will be known. It is proposed to report on progress on the transport Capital Programme later in the year and, if appropriate, proposals for how to deal with any additional funding that is available will be put forward.
10. It is unlikely that new schemes other than maintenance schemes will be able to be added to the programme because of the longer lead times of schemes requiring consultation. Also, there are still some uncertainties in the cost of the 2001/02 and 2002/03 programmes, eg the cost of the Henley Market Place scheme and the possible final cost of the Cornmarket Scheme given the current contractual dispute. It may be prudent not to commit any additional funding until these issues are resolved. However, it should be noted that there is some flexibility in how schemes where developer contributions are involved are funded, and it is considered that it will be possible to spend all of the £18.613m of SCP on transport during 2002/03.

Proposed Programmes for 2002/03

11. The proposed programmes for the 6 main budget areas and the sub headings within them are set out in Annexes 2 to 7.
    

    Annex 2 - Proposed Structural Maintenance Programme 2002/0
    Annex 3 - Proposed Integrated Transport Strategy Programme 2002/03
    Annex 4 - Proposed Sustainable Transport Programme 2002/0
    Annex 5 - Proposed Community Safety Transport Programme 2002/03
    Annex 6 - Proposed Casualty Reduction Programme 2002/03
    Annex 7 - Proposed Major Schemes Programme 2002/03

    In general the allocations have been made to named schemes but where block allocations are listed, eg for "rapid response" measures (included to provide the opportunity for dealing with minor issues that arise during the year), it is suggested that the selection of schemes should be undertaken in consultation with the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management.

12. Other schemes, funded from developer contributions relating to existing or new planning agreements, are also being developed in consultation with developers and District Planning authorities. These may need to be added to the approved Transport Capital Programme at short notice to meet developers’ programmes. It is proposed that they should be added to the programme, as appropriate, following consultation with the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management.
13. Individual schemes will be reported to the Executive where approvals are required and, in any event, any additions to the programme will be included in the proposed update and review of the Transport Capital Programme to be reported later in the year.

Provisional Programmes for 2003/04 and 2004/05

14. Work is in progress to develop three-year programmes for all budget areas. It must be recognised that it will not be possible, or desirable, to approve firm three-year programmes in all areas, eg Casualty Reduction – where each year’s programme must take account of the latest casualty figures; or Community Safety – where the assessed programme will need to be kept under review to ensure that the highest scoring schemes are included.
15. However, in view of the long lead times on developing some schemes, it is important to identify the programme on a provisional basis so that work can commence at the earliest opportunity. Annexes 8 to 13 identify schemes provisionally included in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 programmes, including sites to be assessed.
    
    Annex 8 - Provisional Maintenance Proamme 2003/04 and 2004/05
    Annex 9 - Provisional Integrated Strategy Programme 2003/04
    Annex 10 - Provisional Sustainable Transport Programme 2003/04
    Annex 11 - Provisional Community Safety Transport Programme 2003/04
    Annex 12 - Provisional Casualty Reduction Programme 2003/04
    Annex 13 - Proposed Major Schemes Programme
    

16. Financial and Staff Implications

17. The financial implications are as set out in the report. Assessment, promotion and design of schemes in the programme will be undertaken by a combination of existing staff and Babtie, the County Council’s term consultant for engineering design. The increasing size of the transport capital programme is putting pressure on client resources, especially as it is proving difficult to recruit experienced staff in the face of a national skills shortage. Babtie are already providing some client project management staff and this is likely to have to increase in future.

RECOMMENDATIONS

18. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:-

1. approve the 2002/03 transport capital programme set out in Annexes 2 to 7, subject to any additional schemes, for which finance is available, being added following consultation with the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management;
2. approve the provisional programmes for 2003/04 and 2004/05 set out in Annexes 8 to 13 as a basis for the development of future programmes; and
3. ask the Director of Environmental Services to update the Executive on progress on the transport capital programme in October 2002.