Archived decisions

Contact: Heather Walmsley, ext 6581

1. Summary

1.1 This report provides information on:

(i) the Local Transport Plan (LTP) settlement announced by the Government in December 2001 and a separate announcement regarding the new discretionary funding under the single capital pot which comes into operation in 2002/03; and

(ii) a review of the capital programmes for 2001/02 and 2002/03 to 2005/06 on the basis of the LTP settlement, progress with scheme development and cost changes.

2. Local Transport Plan Settlement 2002/03

2.1 The LTP Settlement for 2002/03 for highway authorities in England and Wales was announced by the Government in December 2001. The letter included an analysis of the national and regional situation with regard to transport funding, including the introduction of the new single capital pot arrangements. It went on to discuss the Government's assessment of Hampshire's Annual Progress Report (APR) and the funding arrangements for the County Council in 2002/03.

2.2 The County Council put in supplementary bids for funding in 2002/03, including the CIVITAS programme in Winchester, and also put forward provisional major scheme submissions for elsewhere in Hampshire for the five year period. (CIVITAS is a European Union project related to innovation in environmentally acceptable transport and systems.) More detailed submissions will be required for major schemes (over £5 million) in future years.

2.3 Hampshire was congratulated on the quality of its APR and its performance in transport has been assessed as `well above average', the highest category. The funding allocated from the original LTP allocation for 2002/03 (£23,188,000) was confirmed, together with £240,000 for the CIVITAS programme and an additional £300,000 for general transport purposes.

2.4 The County Council also received £2,168,000 under the new discretionary single capital pot arrangements. The settlement letter and a subsequent one about the single capital pot indicated that the scale of this award is, to a large extent, due to the County Council's good performance in transport.

3. Capital Programme

3.1 The transport capital programme for 2002/03 to 2005/06 has been drawn up on the basis of the transport award made in the settlement letter and the funding and commitments being brought forward from 2001/02. The 2001/02 programme has been reviewed on the basis of progress to the end of December 2001. This programme for the Andover Transport Strategy (ATS) area is set out in Appendix 1. It remains predominantly unchanged from that reported to the Panel on 14 March 2001, except that the start for the Weyhill Road traffic management scheme now falls within 2002/03 rather than 2001/02. The total allocation for ATS for 2001/02 has also increased from the £450,000 previously reported to £580,000. The increase includes an allowance of £80,000 for street lighting on King Arthurs Way, which supplements developers' contributions to provide a safer environment for local residents and road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. Progress on specific schemes is reported elsewhere on this agenda.

3.2 The new LTP funded programme for 2002/03 to 2005/06 county-wide is summarised as follows:

	2002/03 £'000	2003/04 £'000	2004/05 £'000	2005/06 £'000
Maintenance/Bridges	9,000	7,520	7,520	7,520
Area Strategies	14,955	7,610	10,405	8,450
Casualty Reduction	1,600	1,600	1,400	1,600
County-wide Programmes	1,945	1,665	1,610	2,360
Total	27,500	18,395	20,935	19,930

Note: The 2002/03 total for Area Strategies includes £5.2 million for the A3 bus priority corridor in Havant Borough.

3.3 The programmes are based on the LTP funding available over the five years from 2001/02. The maintenance programme was enhanced in 2001/02 and is shown at a lower level from 2002/03 to produce overall spending in the five years of £44 million. There is £68 million to be spent on integrated transport in the five years of the LTP programme. It is not possible to fund the whole of the A3 bus priority scheme within this programme without seriously affecting the area strategy and county-wide programmes. For this reason the A3 scheme will be progressed as a major scheme beyond 2002/03 and will form part of the County Council's major schemes bid in July 2002.

3.4 The transport programme for 2002/03 to 2005/06 for the ATS area is set out in Appendix 2. The programme should be regarded as flexible and likely to change within overall programme limits. It will be reviewed during the year and amendments may be made if warranted by progress, cost and spending profile changes. There will be a further review at the end of 2002 after the funding availability for 2003/04 has been announced. The above programme is planned to produce annual spending in accordance with LTP funding available each year.

3.5 The strategy area table (Appendix 2) includes schemes to be funded from external sources, principally developers' contributions. These schemes are generally included only for 2002/03 to 2003/04, as beyond this date there is less certainty about the likely availability of funding, which is usually related to the progress of the development. In particular, beyond 2003/04 significant developers' contributions are likely to come forward in association with both major housing and employment development in Andover, which will be used in parallel with LTP funding.

3.6 Details of county-wide and maintenance programmes affecting the Andover area will be included in future programme reviews. These programmes have yet to be determined for 2002/03.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

7065/HW

APPENDIX 1

ANDOVER TRANSPORT STRATEGY (ATS)

PROGRAMME 2001/02

£'000

Salisbury Road Traffic Management Scheme £400

Includes: new cycle route

new roundabout at Millway Road

ATS Cycle and Pedestrian Schemes £50

Includes: Weyhill-Portway cycle route

contributions to bike lockers at railway station

ATS Safer Routes to Schools £50

Includes: Salisbury Road toucan crossing

Tollgate Road speed reduction

King Arthur's Way Street Lighting £80

ATS TOTAL £580

APPENDIX 2

ANDOVER TRANSPORT STRATEGY (ATS)

PROGRAMME 2002/03 TO 2005/06

N.B. External funding is shown in italics.