Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Environment Item 4

12 December 2001

South West Hampshire Transportation Panel/
South East Hampshire Transportation Panel -
Terms of Reference

Report of the County Surveyor

Contact: Tony Ciaburro, ext 6891

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That the Terms of Reference of the Southampton Area Transportation Strategy (SATS) Panel and the South East Hampshire Transportation Strategy (SEHTS) Panel be revised as shown in the Appendices.

(ii) That the Panels be renamed as South West Hampshire Transportation (SWHT) Panel and South East Hampshire Transportation (SEHT) Panel respectively, in order to reflect the revised Terms of Reference.

2. Reason

2.1 Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council have signalled their intent to withdraw from the Panels on the grounds that Panels are now heavily engaged in the implementation of the County Council's Capital Programme and that they do not want to be unnecessarily involved in this process. However, it is recognised that a new mechanism for dealing with joint working on strategic transport issues is needed. This proposal has received broad support at both the SATS and SEHTS Panels.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected - Not applicable.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Background

7.1 The SATS and SEHTS Panels have been in place since the mid nineties. They were originally set up to bring together the County Council, City Councils and relevant district councils with the aim of developing new and innovative transport strategies for the main urban area in the south of the county, including Southampton and Portsmouth. In addition, the Panels were charged with gaining public support for the strategies, the development of appropriate policies to help steer them, the establishment of suitable programmes designed to achieve the policies, and to help secure the necessary funding needed to deliver the programmes of work. All of these tasks have been completed with considerable success.

7.2 As expected, the role of the Panels has moved on naturally to the process of implementing a massive Capital Programme potentially involving hundreds of schemes. The nature, scale and extent of the implementation programme for the SATS and SEHTS areas is such that it warrants the full attention of each of the area-wide Panels.

7.3 This matter was discussed at a recent meeting of the Executive Members from Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council. The Executive Members recognised that the role of the Panels had evolved into the important task of implementation. The Executive Members also shared the view that they did not want to get involved in the implementation programmes of each other's authority. With this in mind Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council signalled their intention to withdraw from the Panels and would work with Hampshire County Council to establish a new mechanism for dealing with mutual strategic transportation issues. This matter has also been discussed at both the SATS and SEHTS Panels when broad consensus on the way forward was agreed.

8. New Terms of Reference

8.1 A consequence of the desire of City Councils to leave the Panels is that it is necessary to revise the existing terms of reference as shown in the appendices. The titles of the Panels have also been changed to South West Hampshire Transportation (SWHT) Panel and South East Hampshire Transportation (SEHT) Panel to reflect this change and to more closely relate to the implementation role of the Panels.



Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1.	Published works.

2.	Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE	LOCATION
None

6864/AC

APPENDIX 1

SOUTH WEST HAMPSHIRE TRANSPORTATION PANEL

Terms of Reference, Constitution and Administrative Arrangements

1. Title

The Panel shall be known as the South West Hampshire Transportation Panel and shall act in an advisory capacity only.

2. Terms of Reference

To advise the County Council's Executive Member for Environment on the implementation of the South West Hampshire transport initiatives and monitor progress, save that matters relating to the development of the rapid transit system in Hampshire shall be dealt with by the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Procurement Joint Panel and the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Development Panel. In doing so, the Panel shall ensure consistency with the overall policy objectives of the constituent Authorities; District representatives will be expected to facilitate liaison between their Councils and the County Council as Highway Authority, as appropriate, and disseminate information within their Councils regarding the deliberations of the Panel.

3. Constituent Authorities

The Panel is constituted by:

Hampshire County Council

Eastleigh Borough Council

New Forest District Council

Test Valley Borough Council

4. Membership

The Panel shall consist of 5 elected members from each of the constituent Authorities.

5. Chairman

The Chairman of the Panel shall be appointed by the County Council.

6. Protocol

All representatives shall use their best endeavours to resolve any outstanding differences, and agreement at the Panel will normally be by general consensus. Where this is not possible, the different views expressed will be reported to the Executive Member for Environment for final determination.
7. Officer Support

The Principal Adviser to the Panel on transportation issues will be the County Surveyor. District officers shall be responsible for supplying advice and reports on development control/local plan issues in their areas.

8. Secretarial Support

Secretarial support will be provided by the Chief Executive, Hampshire County Council.

9. Conduct of Meetings

The conduct of meetings of the Panel shall be regulated by the Standing Orders of Hampshire County Council insofar as the same are applicable to Committees.

10. Quorum

A quorum for meetings of the Panel shall be 3 of whom at least one shall be a Member of the County Council as Highway Authority.

11. Powers to Commit Expenditure

The Panel shall have no power to commit expenditure.

APPENDIX 2

SOUTH EAST HAMPSHIRE TRANSPORTATION PANEL

Terms of Reference, Constitution and Administrative Arrangements

1. Title

The Panel shall be known as the South East Hampshire Transportation Panel and shall act in an advisory capacity only.

2. Terms of Reference

To advise the County Council's Executive Member for Environment on the implementation of the South East Hampshire transport initiatives and monitor progress, save that matters relating to the development of the rapid transit system in Hampshire shall be dealt with by the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Procurement Joint Panel and the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Development Panel. In doing so the Panel shall ensure consistency with overall policy objectives of the constituent Authorities; District representatives will be expected to facilitate liaison between their Councils and the County Council as Highway Authority, and disseminate information within their Councils regarding the deliberations of the Panel.

3. Constituent Authorities

The Panel is constituted by:

Hampshire County Council

East Hampshire District Council

Fareham Borough Council

Gosport Borough Council

Havant Borough Council