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Delivery structures
5.1 Delivering the ambitious programme set out in this white paper efficiently and on time requires the right people, skills and structures. This is why we are proposing a new Scottish transport agency along with a new regional transport partnership network.
The case for change
5.2 The delivery task over the next decade will be markedly different to what we have faced in Scotland for some time. The Scottish Executive and local government do not, for example, have recent experience in building railways or tramways. Our major programme of investment in transport infrastructure projects and the planned service improvements in public transport will require improved structures at both central and local government levels.
5.3 We wish to build organisational capacity throughout government in Scotland and promote a more strategic approach to the planning and delivery of transport at all levels. Our proposals to do this are founded on the creation of a new national transport agency to enhance delivery of transport by central government, and new statutory regional transport partnerships to facilitate the planning and delivery of our transport in a more strategic way within local government. These new structures will be underpinned by new national and regional transport strategies.
National transport agency
5.4 In autumn 2003 we carried out a consultation on Scotland's Transport Proposals for a New Approach to Transport in Scotland46. There was widespread support47 for our proposal to establish a national transport agency which would:
- be a centre of excellence in delivering transport;
- provide a focus for the delivery of Scotland's largest transport projects;
- work for an integrated, multi-modal approach to services;
- take social justice and sustainable transport as central goals;
- improve services and reliability across Scotland.
5.5 Responses to the consultation indicate that one of the key tasks of the new agency should be to draw up a national transport strategy for the whole of Scotland which would consider the needs of all travellers and all modes. Many made the point that the agency would need to build effective working relationships with a wide range of partners in order to promote an integrated approach to the transport system. The most commonly raised concern was that the new agency could simply introduce "another layer of bureaucracy" without adding value.
5.6 The agency will be responsible for devising a new national long-term transport strategy. It will cover all modes in a balanced way and provide the framework within which councils and the proposed regional transport partnerships develop their own plans. Drawing up the national strategy, through a process of analysis and consultation, will be one of the first priorities of the agency.
5.7 The national agency will be an executive agency directly accountable to Scottish Ministers, building on the work of the existing Transport Group within the Scottish Executive. It will:
- aim to be a centre of excellence, take responsibility for the delivery of the Executive's programme of major projects and promote integration and quality;
- contribute to the Executive's promotion of economic growth social justice, regeneration and sustainable development;
- work in partnership with local government including the regional transport partnerships, private sector operators, transport users and the wider community;
- be outward-focused, delivery-minded and dedicated to continuous improvement, with internal structures and business processes that support this;
- take strategic responsibility forthe Scottish passenger rail franchise across all parts of Scotland;
- take a key role in the development and implementation of Executive policies such as concessionary travel.
5.8 Approval for major rail and tram transport infrastructure projects can only follow the Scottish Parliament's consideration of a Private Bill. The Private Bill requires an individual person, a body corporate or an unincorporated association of persons to promote it. Without, at present proposing any change to the Private Bill procedure, we will, through the transport agency, facilitate the promotion of the private legislation necessary for new railways and tramways. We will also work with the Parliament on ways in which the existing process for major new public transport projects can be improved.
5.9 The consultation also sought views on the current and potential distribution of transport powers and responsibilities in Scotland. Some suggestions were made for functions that could be devolved from Scottish Ministers to local authorities, for example the management and maintenance of some trunk roads. Some respondents considered that there was a strong case for national co-ordination of functions such as concessionary travel schemes.
5.10 There is no intention to transfer to the national agency any transport powers currently exercised by local authorities, with the exception of relevant rail powers of Strathclyde Passenger Transport. This will allow the agency to manage Scotland's railway as a single franchise. We will also take discretionary powers to enable the agency to run concessionary travel schemes. We intend that the agency will provide advice, guidance and information on quality contracts (and other quality bus measures) within the current legislative framework.
5.11 On the other hand, there was a view among consultees that some powers currently held by Scottish Ministers might appropriately be exercised by regional transport bodies. We intend therefore to take powers to enable specified transport powers to be delegated from Scottish Ministers to regional transport partnerships if local authorities agree to create sufficiently strong regional transport partnerships, capable of taking on new responsibilities. This is likely to be the situation in, for example, the west of Scotland.
Regional transport partnerships
5.12 In our consultation paper we set out a range of possible options for strengthening the delivery of transport by local government. The first of these options was to provide a strengthened level of regional planning and delivery, building on the success of the existing voluntary regional partnerships. There was a very wide variation of views in response to that consultation. The message that emerged consistently, however, was that there were real benefits in the existing regional partnerships which could be built upon and strengthened. Most people also believed that there were advantages in many transport services being integrated with the delivery of other local services by the 32 unitary councils.
5.13 Respondents to the consultation generally had welcomed the creation of the existing voluntary regional transport partnerships but suggested that their current form placed limitations on their potential impact. In particular, the partnerships needed to take a more strategic view and be able to rise above purely local concerns and priorities. The consultation responses did not agree on which of the current possible models was the best option for developing the regional partnerships. A structure was sought that ensured local accountability, the effective funding and delivery of strategic regional transport projects, and the balancing of interests of all the authorities in a partnership, large or small.
5.14 Our proposals for reform therefore seek to capture the best of both regional and local planning and delivery, with a significant degree of flexibility to enable the arrangements to be tailored to meet the distinctive needs of different parts of the country.
5.15 We have decided to create statutory regional transport partnerships across the whole of Scotland. The geographic coverage and the powers and duties of each of these new regional partnerships will be the subject of further consultation with local government. Each partnership will be required, however, to prepare a statutory regional transport strategy for their area. Each strategy will make the case for investment and infrastructure in that region and guide and co-ordinate the activities of the individual councils in the delivery of that strategy.
5.16 The regional transport partnerships will be local government bodies with a representative from each of the councils in the geographic region covered by the partnership. While each local authority would have only one councillor on the partnership board, the population of that council would determine whether its councillor was entitled to exercise one, two, three or four votes within the partnership. In addition to the council representatives, it is anticipated that the regional partnerships would have around a third of their voting membership from the business sector and other organisations in the region. Observer members could also be appointed where appropriate.
5.17 We will consult further on the number of partnerships and the geographic coverage of each. While we would expect in the main that each partnership would be made up of a number of complete local authorities, it would be possible for a council to be split between two or more partnerships, provided there was a clear rationale and broad consensus amongst the relevant partners. Nevertheless, every part of Scotland would be a member of just one regional transport partnership.
5.18 We intend that it should be possible for councils within a partnership to agree to transfer specific transport powers and duties to the partnership. We envisage that there will be two or three partnership models with varying degrees of power and responsibility, and we will consult further on these models before publishing guidance. Each partnership, once formed, will be expected to agree which of these models they wish to follow. If there is agreement between the partnership members then that model will be implemented. If there are differing views within the partnership, Scottish Ministers will be the ultimate arbiters and decide on the transfer.
5.19 The minimum statutory duty on each partnership will be the creation of a regional transport strategy. To reinforce the primacy of the regional strategy, councils will be required to co-operate with the partnership and direct their statutory powers to deliver the strategy that they have agreed within the partnership. Regional transport partnerships will have a statutory duty to participate in community planning.
5.20 Partnerships will have a range of financial powers. They will be able to requisition their core funding from the unhypothecated revenue support grant paid to constituent councils by the Scottish Executive. This will cover their running costs, as well as the costs of any transport services that might have been transferred from the councils to the regional partnership. They will also be able to undertake prudential borrowing to finance capital infrastructure investment. Finally the regional transport strategy will make the case for specific projects which would be candidates for funding from the Scottish Executive through specific grant.
5.21 The response to consultation on the future of Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) revealed a range of views from those who felt that the current position should remain unchanged to those who wanted a significant change. However, there was wide agreement that any new arrangements should build on the achievements and incorporate the strengths of SPT. In particular, respondents emphasised that the skills and experience of SPT staff should be retained by any successor arrangements.
5.22 It is our clearly-stated intention to preserve the strengths of Strathclyde Passenger Transport, and the skills and experience of its workforce, and build upon these. We are therefore determined to see a strong regional transport partnership in the west of Scotland to which SPT's powers would transfer, with the exception of relevant rail powers which we have already indicated will transfer to the national agency. These powers could be supplemented by any other local authority powers that the constituent councils chose to transfer.
5.23 Taken together these proposals represent a radical reform of transport delivery across Scotland. We are determined to set up a substantial national body capable of delivering the major infrastructure projects to which we are committed, transforming Scotland's transport network over the next decade, as well as facilitating the provision of better transport services. All of this will be made possible by the substantial injection of funding to the transport programme.
5.24 We are also determined to see better regional planning of transport infrastructure and services. The new statutory regional transport partnerships will bring that, with a requirement to prepare statutory regional transport strategies which will be binding on the local authorities in each partnership area. We will also make it possible for councils to pool their transport expertise in stronger regional partnerships, transferring the appropriate powers and duties from council to regional partnership, leading to service delivery, as well as planning, at regional partnership level. But it will be for the local authorities themselves, as members of the regional transport partnerships, to decide whether to take up this opportunity and challenge.
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