Archived decisions

Contact: John Buckett, ext 6599

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That the 2002/03 transport capital programme be amended by increasing the allocation for the Winchester Station Interchange (by £170,000), Chandler's Ford Rail Station (by £1,200,000) and for schemes on the A33 in Basingstoke (by £1,380,000).

(ii) That the 2002/03 transport capital programme be amended by increasing the allocation for Petersfield Town Centre Improvements by £200,000 from the reserve allocation (£500,000) approved by the Executive Member for Environment in May 2002.

(iii) That the Area Transportation Strategy Panels be requested to consider and recommend priorities within their programmes to assist in the process of any further reviews concerning the 2002/03 programme, and for the preparation of the 2003/04 capital programme in January 2003.

2. Reasons

2.1 An additional allocation is proposed for the Winchester Station Interchange scheme to cover increased contract costs.

2.2 The additional £1,200,000 requested for Chandler's Ford Railway Station will allow for construction during winter/spring 2002/03, should approval be given by the Strategic Rail Authority. This was the subject of a report to the Executive Member for Environment in July 2002.

2.3 The Basingstoke Area Programme will need to be changed if the current proposals for the A33 are to be progressed on schedule.

2.4 An increased allocation is proposed for the Petersfield Town Centre improvements to cover increased cost arising from additional environmental works.

2.5 The current forecasts for capital expenditure on transport in 2003/04, including preparation costs of the South Hampshire Rapid Transit project (Phase 1 Light Rapid Transit), show an excess of spending over resources. Although additional resources are being sought from the Department for Transport through the Local Transport Plan process, a contingency plan needs to be prepared in case extra funding is not made available. The Area Transportation Strategy Panels are therefore being asked to review their programmes for 2003/04 onwards, and 2002/03 schemes not yet committed, and to advise the Executive Member for Environment on priorities for early implementation.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Options are discussed in Section 11. They will ultimately be determined by the funding level available in 2003/04 and consideration of priorities for funding in that year.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer Consulted - None.

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. Introduction

7.1 This report considers a number of amendments to the 2002/03 capital programme, identifies additional pressures which will need to be considered in preparing the 2003/04 to 2006/07 programme in January 2003 and reviews the overall funding position, including progress on the 2002/03 programme.

8. Amendments to the 2002/03 Programme

8.1 An additional £1.2 million is requested to be made available for Chandler's Ford Rail Station to allow for construction winter 2002/spring 2003 should approval be given by the Strategic Rail Authority. This was the subject of a report to the July meeting. An increased allocation of £170,000 is proposed for the Winchester Station Interchange scheme to cover increased contract costs.

8.2 The Basingstoke Area programme will need to be changed if the current proposals for the A33 are to be progressed on schedule. The total cost of the three schemes (junction improvements at the A33 junctions with the A339 and with Popley Way and the Norn Hill to Popley Way cycle scheme) is £1.7 million. The schemes are being put together as an implementation package which will result in savings in contract costs. A total of £320,000 is currently allocated for the A33 and an additional £1,380,000 is required from the Local Transport Plan (LTP) programme. It is proposed that this is provided by bringing forward allocations for the A33 and A30 from later years in the programme. The cost of future schemes on the A33 corridor will be offset by anticipated developer contributions totalling £600,000. The A30 schemes will then be financed wholly from contributions held by the County Council and by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. It is proposed that this arrangement be considered by the Basingstoke Environmental Strategy for Transport Panel before any commitments are made to contracts.

8.3 An additional £200,000 is requested from the reserve allocation for Petersfield Town Centre improvements. The increased allocation will meet the cost of additional environmental measures and modifications to the schemes for The Square and High Street which have resulted from extensive public consultation. The improvements are being put together as a package which, when implemented, will bring economy of scale and minimise disruption in the town centre.

9. Additional Pressures

9.1 The contractual arrangements for the PTI 2000 project of passenger transport information require an annual contribution of £125,000 from Hampshire (at 2002/03 prices). Government officials advise that it is appropriate to use LTP funding for this purpose. The capital programme presently has £125,000 for this in 2002/03 but only £25,000 in 2003/04 and nothing thereafter, as an ongoing capital commitment was not originally envisaged.

10. Overall Funding Position

10.1 The current forecasts for 2003/04 for transport, including South Hampshire Rapid Transit (SHRT) preparation, Integrated Transport (Area Strategies and county-wide programmes) and Structural Maintenance of Highways and Bridges show an excess of spending over resources. Additional funding is being sought through a major scheme bid with respect to the A3 Bus Priority Scheme, and also through the LTP process, but it is necessary to consider a contingency plan in case the funding is not made available for 2003/04. Decisions are expected from the Government in December 2002 on the funding support available for the County Council in 2003/04. Details are set out in the following paragraphs.

Progress on the 2002/03 Programme

10.2 The 2002/03 capital programme was approved in January 2002 and amended at the Executive Member for Environment meeting in May 2002. A number of schemes were carried forward from the 2001/02 programme together and some credit approvals were also carried forward into 2002/03.

10.3 In summary the 2002/03 transport capital programme position (credit approval funded schemes only) is now as follows:

10.4 Additional resources have been sought to cover the difference between the forecast and the resources. In the event of no additional resources becoming available the 2002/03 integrated transport spending will be held at no more than £17.1 million so that spending balances resources. This will result in an additional £4.3 million integrated transport spending being incurred in 2003/04. The progress with individual schemes is set out in the attached appendix.

10.5 The 2002/03 capital programme also included references to other priority projects, including the Highways Laboratory and Bar End recycling. Schemes were to be progressed with Single Capital Pot funding unless this was needed for SHRT. However, it has now been identified that the whole of the Single Capital Pot funding is required for SHRT in 2002/03.

Funding Position 2003/04

10.6 The County Council has indicative allocations of Government funding through the LTP process for the period 2003/04 to 2005/06. These allocations do not include any increased allocations that may come forward as a result of the latest APR submission, through the Single Capital Pot or as a result of the major scheme bid made for the A3 Bus Corridor project.

The indicative allocations are:

10.7 The current spending forecasts (assuming a £17.1 million spend in 2002/03 on integrated transport) and full implementation of the currently approved programme plus the A3 and Light Rapid Transit/SHRT projects are:

10.8 The above totals show a forecast spending above minimum resource levels. Information will not be available until mid December 2002 concerning any additional funding for 2003/04 from the LTP process or specific support for major schemes (SHRT Phase 1 and/or A3 corridor) or funding through the single capital pot. The Hampshire programmes have been deliberately prepared above these minimum resource levels so that the County Council is in a good position to respond to any new initiatives and funding sources.

11. Options

Use of Local Resources

11.1 In the event of none of the additional funding coming forward, the courses open are to finance some spending using local resources and/or defer or delete some of the programme.

11.2 The most likely candidate for local funding is SHRT Phase 1, which begins to receive substantial funding from other sources in 2005/06, and any investment made at an early stage may be recovered through this process.

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