Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the TRANSPORT FOR SOUTH HAMPSHIRE JOINT COMMITTEE

of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL, SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL and PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL held at Portsmouth City Council, on

Monday 14 April 2008.

PRESENT:

21. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Gavin Bostock, External Relations

Manager at Cross Country, Natalie Chapman, Regional Policy Manager London,

South East and East of England for Freight Transport Association, Andy Mak,

Planning Manager at South East England Regional Assembly and David Lees,

Director of Planning and Development at Southampton International Airport .

22. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no Declarations of Interest declared.

23. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

Councillor Kendal reported that the Transport for South Hampshire Statement

`Towards Delivery' would be discussed at the meeting. This document has

captured the attention of the media since the ambitious plans are likely to impact

upon people in many parts of the sub-region. Articles in the Echo and the

Portsmouth News have mentioned Transport for South Hampshire and the

meetings are, of course, open to the public.

24. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 8 JANUARY 2008

The Minutes of the Joint Committee held on 8 January 2008 were confirmed by

the Committee as amended and signed by the Chairman.

25. PRESENTATION ON SOUTH HAMPSHIRE BUS OPERATORS'

RICHARD SOPER

The Committee welcomed Richard Soper and Andrew Dyer to the meeting to give

a presentation on behalf of the bus operators in the sub-region. Richard gave a

brief overview of the current scene and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

He noted that the bus operators in the area employ 1,400 people and operate 640

buses. He outlined the role of the bus, noting that the sub region is very well

served with bus services, most of which are commercial and stand comparison

with any city region with fares no higher than in council operated networks.

He felt that buses should be regarded as much more than a `social service'.

However, without a change of attitude and action buses will get progressively less

attractive because of the relentless pressure for road space from other vehicles.

Richard considered that consultants and officers have analysed problems clearly

in producing the Statement and there is a key role for road based public transport.

He advised that it was important to build on the existing established relationships

and that it would take courage in the years ahead. He felt that people do not use

buses where they have a choice and the reasons are due to convenience,

unreliability and image. These issues needed to be addressed and buses prioritised

to provide a better and more efficient service, with investment in vehicles and

infrastructure offering benefits in image and environmental with an improved

experience. He considered that part of vision for Transport for South Hampshire

could be ` to create the conditions in which public transport is able to grow' and

`to encourage a dynamic market within public transport'.

The Chairman thanked Richard Soper on behalf of the Committee for his

interesting presentation.

26. TRANSPORT FOR SOUTH HAMPSHIRE STATEMENT `TOWARDS

DELIVERY'

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the Transport for South Hampshire Statement

`Towards Delivery' to provide the basis of the transport strategy and packages

of interventions required to deliver the growth agenda.

The Project Director described the transport strategy set out in the statement and

summarised the work that had been carried out leading to its publication. The

statement sets out the critical steps, to raise the economic competitiveness of the

sub-region and deliver the growth with Partnership for Urban South Hampshire,

by means of the reduce-manage-invest strategy, which is in line with the

Government's recently published discussion paper `Towards a Sustainable

Tranpsort System'.

Councillor Baston on behalf of Southampton City Council and Councillor Bentley

on behalf of Portsmouth City Council welcomed the paper as a working document

to process transport needs and accessibility.

The Head of Planning Services, Portsmouth City Council reported that the new

core strategies and the local development framework provided a consistent

message.

Paul Robinson from the Highways Agency and Neil Pearce from SEEDA

welcomed the useful statement of delivery and looked forward to working

together with the partnership.

In response to a question from Councillor Kendal about accurate traffic movement

figures, the Hampshire Head of Highways and Transport Policy advised that those

packages which stand the best prospects for funding have been assembled for

regional prioritisation from 2016, alongside other possible avenues for alternative

funding.

RESOLVED:

That the Transport for South Hampshire Statement `Towards Delivery' be

approved as the basis of the transport strategy and the packages of interventions

required in order to deliver the growth agenda.

27. CO-ORDINATED TRAFFIC CONTROL AND TRAVEL INFORMATION

The Committee considered the report of the Portsmouth Head of Transport and

Street Management (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the interim conclusions of the

study into the merits and methods of closer working between those responsible for

traffic control and travel information in South Hampshire.

He advised that the interim results indicated promising capability in the process of

bringing about improvements.

Councillors Baston and Bentley agreed that it made sense to achieve integration

and logistical sense to proceed but retaining careful consideration of the costs.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the interim conclusion that there is merit in moving towards some form of integrated service delivery be approved.

(b) That the options identified in the report be approved for the purpose of setting the scope for future work.

28. TRANSPORT FOR SOUTH HAMPSHIRE BUDGET 2008/09

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the proposed revenue budget for 2008/09, taking

into account anticipated income from a variety of sources to enable the

partnership to proceed in delivering a number of strategies and studies, prior to

the design and implementation of a range of projects and schemes.

The Project Director advised that the Transport for South Hampshire partnership

needed to rely on funds from a variety of partners and the provisional budget of

£1.36m was based on anticipated commitments. A further recommendation as

set out at (c) was proposed by Portsmouth City Council Members and Officers.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the provisional Transport for South Hampshire Revenue Budget for

2008/09 be approved on the basis of information provided, notably the

anticipated level of contributions and awards from a variety of funding

sources.

(b) That the submission of Expressions of Interest for funding support for Bus

Rapid Transit and Tipner Link under the Government's Community

Infrastructure Fund be endorsed.

(c) That Transport for South Hampshire requests that the Regional Transport

Board should recognise the economic and other benefits that providing

improved access to the Portsmouth Naval Base via the Trafalgar Link Road

would deliver from a national, regional as well as local perspective and that it

be asked to receive a report from its officers on identifying ways that the

scheme could be funded.

29. MULTI AREA AGREEMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 9 in the Minute Book) on emerging measures for the transport element of

the draft Partnership for Urban South Hampshire Multi Area Agreement, for

negotiation with Government and seeking authority for officers in consultation

with the Chairman to negotiate the final Multi Area Agreement with the

Government as part of the South Hampshire negotiating team.

The Manager for Transport for South Hampshire advised that the Multi Area

Agreement brought together agencies to support development and to overcome

transport constraints on economic growth by a variety of means. A range of

possible measures were described, which would need further discussion with

stakeholders before being submitted to Government.

Andrew Dyer from Hampshire Bus Operators expressed caution over change to

the financial model for bus service, in view of recent experiences with the national

concessionary travel scheme, requiring extra capacity to be provided in the face of

reduced reimbursement from Government.

RESOLVED:

(a) That, in principal, the outcomes and enabling measures, as set out in the report,

as the transport element of the draft Partnership for Urban South Hampshire

Multi Area Agreement be approved, for negotiation with the Government.

(b) That authority be given to officers, in consultation with the Chairman, to

negotiate the final Multi Area Agreement with the Government as part of the

Partnership for Urban South Hampshire negotiating team.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SUBMITTED FOR INFORMATION

30. DEVELOPING THE EVIDENCE BASE

The Joint Committee noted the progress on assessing the transport data and

analysis tools required to provide a robust evidence base to enable the Transport

for South Hampshire strategy to be delivered.

31. INTEGRATED TRANSPORT AUTHORITY STATUS

The Joint Committee

(a) Authorised officers of the three respective authorities to continue to liaise with the

Department for Transport and the Government Office for the South East on the

potential advantages and disadvantages of Transport for South Hampshire seeking

Integrated Transport Authority status on a without prejudice basis.

(b) Agreed that Members visit a suitable Passenger Transport Executive/Authority

along with appropriate officers.