REPORT OF THE

EXECUTIVE MEMBER

Environment

PART II

LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN - ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2002

1. As part of the overall Local Transport Plan (LTP) process, the County Council has a statutory obligation to produce an Annual Progress Report (APR) for the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR). The APR is the main mechanism for informing Central Government on how Hampshire's LTP is being implemented and the progress being made in working towards the national and local objectives, targets and outputs. This will, in turn influence future levels of Government funding to the County Council for transport.

2. The County Council's first APR was submitted to Central Government on 31
August 2001. The report was very well received, with the Council being congratulated on the quality of the document, and resulted in the Council receiving a very good Local Transport Capital Settlement for 2002/03.

3. The second APR is to be submitted by 31 July 2002 and guidance to local authorities on the information it should contain was issued by the Government in April. The guidance highlighted the fact that increased emphasis has been placed on monitoring delivery of the programme and progress towards achieving the objectives and targets of the LTP. As part of the APR preparation process, the County Council consulted key stakeholders and the general public on progress to date and how the transportation strategy would be delivered until the end of the LTP period.

4. A copy of the APR will be available in the Members' Rooms in due course; however the key elements of the document are:-

(i) the progress that has been made against the 2001/02 capital programme;


(ii) the identification of any shortfalls in terms of programme delivery and what needs to be done to get back on track;


(iii) the impact of the work that has been done to date; and


(iv) how the allocation is being spent in order to achieve the wider transport objectives.

The APR will also include a formal bid for the CIVITAS European project and looks at the potential for the funding of transport infrastructure projects identified in the M27 Integrated Transport Strategy and being further considered in the South Coast Multi Modal-Study which will be concluded in the summer.

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