Issue details

Proposed decision

The Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport is asked to give approval to accept the Active Travel Fund Grant (ATF5) and take the projects through their various stages of scheme development and delivery as listed below:

1.    APPROVE the acceptance of the Active Travel Fund (ATF5) Grant award and the deployment of the grant funding in accordance with the grant conditions to take the ATF5 projects through their various stages of scheme development and delivery.

2.    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and the S151 Officer to agree to enter into the necessary grant agreements.

3.    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport to deploy and manage the grant allocation funding to take the ATF5 projects through their various stages of scheme development and delivery.

4.    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member and S151 Officer, to accept and deploy future years funding allocations of the grant, providing it is on similar terms.

5.    DELEGATE authority to Director of Infrastructure to progress and complete all relevant construction property and Compulsory Purchase Orders as necessary to deliver the schemes.

6.    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport to take other necessary actions, including but not limited to entering into contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement the decision. 

Reason for the decision

A key decision is required to seek approval to accept the Capital & Revenue Grant because it is over the £1m threshold (£1,671,054m Capital & £215,011 Revenue totalling £1,886,065) and to deploy and manage the grant in accordance to grant funding conditions.

Background – Provide brief additional context

Kent County Council has been awarded a Capital and Revenue Grant totalling £1,886,065 by Active Travel England to develop and construct active travel schemes across the county. This funding is based on Kent's population size and its capability rating in delivering active travel projects, which influences future government funding.

Local authorities are rated from Level 0 to Level 4 based on leadership, support, and network development for active travel. KCC is at level 2 indicating visible local leadership and an emerging active travel network

Options

Not to accept the direct grant. KCC would not be able to fund active travel projects that areshown to have health, environmental, accessibility, community and economic benefits for Kent residents.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

Infrastructure for Communities – The schemes that will be delivered with the funding are consistent with principles of accelerating the delivery of key transport infrastructure and enhancing leverage of external infrastructure investment within the districts and boroughs from central government. The scheme will also contribute towards providing viable and attractive travel options that focus on both road and active travel modes.

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

The schemes will be solely funded by the Active Travel Grant awarded, therefore the scheme will not compromise Objective 1. No funding is required from the Council’s feasibility reserve which is relevant to Objective 2. The close alignment of the scheme to Framing Kent’s Future is therefore consistent with Objective 3.