Archived decisions

Contact: John Buckett, ext 6599 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report introduces the 2005 Local Transport Plan (LTP) Annual Progress Report (APR) submitted to the Government on 29 July 2005. It covers performance during 2004/05 in terms of scheme delivery, progress towards targets and capital spending levels, as well as forecasts for 2005/06.

2. Corporate Strategy

2.1 The LTP is a corporate document incorporating all corporate aims and detailing the role of transport in promoting them.

2.2 The first LTP was produced in 2000 and reflects the corporate strategy as it existed at that time. The provisional second LTP was submitted in July 2005.

3. Background

3.1 The APR is the chief mechanism for reporting progress to the Department for Transport on how the LTP is being implemented.

3.2 The format of APRs has changed markedly since their introduction in 2001 and is now largely to a standard format, reporting progress on scheme delivery, progress against targets and capital spending, all compared with the forecasts made in the previous APR.

3.3 Assessment of this information is then undertaken by the Government and then used by it, both in awarding a performance score to each authority (which is part of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment) and in helping to determine the level of capital resource awarded to each authority for transport investment in the following year.

4. Hampshire County Council Performance 2004/05

4.1 A copy of the APR is attached to this report.

4.2 Overview of Progress (extract from page 1 of APR):

"In summary overall progress has been good, particular highlights are:

(i) There are no targets which the County Council is actively pursuing that are now forecast not to be met.

(ii) Casualty reduction in 2004 has significantly exceeded reasonable previous expectations of performance to that date. The County Council had therefore very nearly met the overall nationally set target six years early.

(iii) Following 3 years of decline bus passenger numbers have increased by 1.75%.

(iv) The numbers of level 3 workplace and school travel plans have both increased and the total number of school travel plans in place already exceed the 2005 LTP target.

(v) All air pollution targets remain on line to be met and in particular average levels of particulates are at their lowest level since first recorded for the LTP in 2000.

(vi) The percentage of rural households in Hampshire with access to either a regular conventional bus service or a Cango, demand responsive service has increased to 55% (52% in 2003/4).

The County Council is on track to meet 14 of its 16 targets (88%). This represents strong performance against a wide variety of challenging targets and performance indicators. There is insufficient information or conflicting data to reach a firm conclusion for the remaining two targets; these have been reported as "no clear evidence."

Hampshire County Council's approach is to work towards its stated LTP and Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) targets. It takes a prudent approach to the management of schemes within individual years in order to help meet overall targets. This will mean that progress towards interim annual targets will sometimes vary from originally stated predictions. As demonstrated in the sections of the APR on delivery and spending for 2004/05 a number of programmes show expenditure and/or activity increased and this is reflected in progress towards targets."

4.3 The APR reports progress against LTP1 targets and delivery against forecasts made in July 2004. It also includes forecasts on delivery of schemes and capital spending for 2005/06. Revised targets are proposed in the new LTP (2006 to 2011) which is to be finalised in March 2006.

4.4 The current year (2005/06) is the last year of the first LTP and in July 2006 the County Council is required to report on overall progress across the five years of the LTP1 period, from 2001/02 to 2005/06. These "delivery reports" will cover:

(i) the overall impact of a plan, including on wider (than transport ) policy aims and service delivery;

(ii) achievement of targets and progress on key measurable transport outcome indicators; and

(iii) the delivery of a plan's strategies and programmes.

4.5 The Department for Transport is currently consulting on the form these reports will take. They will contribute to the County Council's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) score.

5. Impact Assessments

5.1 The LTP and its APRs cover the complete range of transport activities but the APRs concentrate on comparing delivery and capital spending against forecasts and progress towards targets. The overall performance rating received affects the County Council's CPA score which in turn can affect future income levels. The specific targets cover safety, road maintenance, traffic levels, air quality and journey modes as well as travel plans and accessibility to bus services.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

517/JB