Decision details

Background

The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 amended the Local Transport Act 2008 to allow the creation of Sub-national Transport Bodies (STBs). There are now several shadow STBs in England, with Transport for the North becoming the only statutory STB in April 2018.

The South East 7 (SE7 – Kent, Medway, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Hampshire, Brighton and Hove) councils proposed the establishment of an STB for the South East. From this, Transport for the South East (TfSE) emerged, which is now a partnership of 16 Local Transport Authorities and five Local Enterprise Partnerships. In addition to the SE7, TfSE includes Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, and the Berkshire unitary authorities represented by the Berkshire Local Transport Body (West Berkshire, Wokingham, Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough).

TfSE has sought to formalise its role as the South East’s voice for strategic transport issues by becoming a statutory body. To do this, TfSE has worked with its members to develop a Proposal to Government. This draft proposal was consulted on from May to July 2019. KCC provided a response to the consultation, supporting the powers TfSE proposed. Some of these were supported only conditionally provided that the principle of subsidiarity is applied (i.e. powers are used at the most local level). This was in relation to highways and transport functions that constituent members already hold but TfSE wants to enact concurrently.

Transport for the South East have since revised their Proposal to Government taking account of the comments they received in the consultation. The revised Proposal includes the application of the principle of subsidiarity.

TfSE has also consulted on its draft Transport Strategy for the South East (October 2019 – January 2020). KCC responded positively to this consultation to support the overall aims and aspirations of TfSE. The development of a Transport Strategy is one of the central functions of a STB, and the Department for Transport awarded TfSE funding (in addition to funding from the constituent authorities) to produce one. The Transport Strategy for the South East is being revised now that the public consultation has closed.

TfSE plan to submit the revised Proposal to Government and the Transport Strategy for the South East to the Department for Transport concurrently. This is to present a unified vision for the region alongside the request for powers to achieve it, with the consent of constituent bodies.

Strategic Statement

Transport for the South East is emerging as an important advocate of improved transport in the region, and its own aims closely match the objectives of the Strategic Statement. The vision for the Transport Strategy for the South East is:

By 2050, the South East of England will be a leading global region for net-zero carbon, sustainable economic growth where integrated transport, digital and energy networks have delivered a step-change in connectivity and environmental quality.

A high-quality. reliable, safe and accessible transport network will offer seamless door-to-door journeys enabling our businesses to compete and trade more effectively in the global marketplace and giving our residents and visitors the highest quality of life.

Thus, TfSE is fundamentally focused on improving lives, sustainable economic growth, and supporting all people to make informed transport decisions and have a range of transport choices so that they can benefit from improved quality of life. Consequently, TfSE has the potential to positively contribute towards all of the supporting outcomes identified in the Strategic Statement.

Options

Kent County Council is one of the founding bodies of Transport for the South East. As such, the only other option would be to decline to endorse the Proposal to Government and rescind support for TfSE. This would restrict KCC’s opportunities to progress transport schemes for investment and isolate the county from wider regional discussions about transport in the future. It could potentially see the Council’s influence in lobbying for schemes on the Strategic Road Network and railway network diluted because KCC would be a small area alone, hence not in alignment with the move to regional prioritisation that the Government has promoted to date.

As Leader of the Council, in accordance with Section 19.2 of the Council’s Constitution, I agree to:

1. Consent to Transport for the South East’s Proposal to Government for powers in addition to the general powers of a Sub-national Transport Body and endorse the Transport Strategy for the South East as part of this proposal.
2. Participate in, and cooperate with, Transport for the South East in accordance with the powers requested from Government and those powers operating concurrently with Kent County Council as Highway Authority and Local Transport Authority.

And delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport, in consultation with the Leader and Monitoring Officer, to enter into relevant legal agreements and take other appropriate actions as necessary to implement the decision.