AGENDA ITEM 10 BOROUGH OF POOLE
CABINET
30 JANUARY 2007
DORSET STRATEGIC ROAD SAFETY PARTNERSHIP: REPORT OF ACTING HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 To consider the implications of the new funding mechanism for Speed and Red Light Camera (Safety Camera) Enforcement across the Dorset Police Force Area.
2. Recommendation
Cabinet is asked to: -
2.1 Agree to use the entire allocation from the Local Transport Plan (LTP) Specific Road Safety Grant Determination for 2007/08 to be utilised, as outlined at Appendix A, for funding the approved Operational Case of the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership (DSCP).
2.2 Authorise the Acting Head of Transportation Services to agree and sign off the Service Level Agreement (SLA) on behalf of the Authority.
2.3 Agree that the Portfolio Holder for Local Economy (including Transportation,) or his nominated representative, be proposed as the Borough’s representative on the Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership Steering Group.
3. Context
3.1 The change in the way that Speed and Red Light (Safety) Cameras are to be funded comes against a background of a second LTP which has been deemed to be “Fair” and the Road Safety element of which has been assessed as being “Excellent”. In addition the road traffic casualties are falling in line with, or even ahead of, Government targets. In future the Safety Cameras will be funded as part of a specific Road Safety Grant over the next four years.
3.2 Whilst this grant is not ring fenced, there remains a high expectation that this allocation will be invested in road safety to deliver further improvements in this area. In addition, because of the success of the existing Partnership performance, it is not planned to make any radical changes to the operational arrangements for 2007/08, as previously agreed at the 13 April 2006 Transportation Advisory Group. It is felt that time must be given for the new partnership to work before agreeing on and implementing any new strategies. 3.3 There is also no intention to add any more fixed speed cameras in the first year of the new arrangements (for example outside schools), or to make any changes to the current operational rules for deployment of cameras. This is in order to maintain public confidence in the continuing operation of the project. In terms of control the proposal is that the day to day running of the project will be through the operations group led by the DSCP project manager as at present.
3.4 The Department for Transport (DfT) issued draft guidance on the future use of Safety Cameras in August 2006, following the announcement of a review by the Secretary of State for Transport in December 2005. The DfT has reviewed the National Safety Camera Programme and developed a package of measures to change the financial and governance arrangements with effect from 1 April 2007. The DfT considered it was time to reintegrate cameras back into the wider road safety toolkit to help meet the challenging casualty reduction targets to 2010 and beyond.
3.5 The new arrangements will give local authorities greater freedom and flexibility to pursue whichever measures they see fit in order to reduce road casualties locally. The DfT still considers, however, that safety cameras have a vital role to play in an integrated road safety strategy. The existing Safety Camera programme has been proven to reduce casualties both nationally and locally, as indicated in paragraphs 7.1 and 7.2.
3.6 In terms of governance it is proposed that a new group be set up, to be known as the Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership (DSRSP), made up of member of the current steering group and elected members. The DSRSP will shadow the existing DSCP Steering Group from January 2007. The terms of reference for the new Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership are set out at Appendix C.
4. Service Level Agreement
4.1 The original SLA was agreed by this Council’s Executive Cttee on 30 January 2002. A similar agreement will be needed for the new SLA for continued operations into 2007/08 and beyond. This will be the fundamental working document for the whole project and will be subject to annual review and agreement. The Dorset and Conurbation LTP’s for 2007/08 onwards were submitted to DfT during the summer and they recommended that safety camera enforcement continue on a similar footing to the 2006/07 operations.
4.2 The SLA contains closedown procedures and confirms ownership of assets within the partnership. The DSCP Steering Group of June 2006 agreed that an SLA be drawn up for all parties to sign to ensure continuity and to see that all funds are correctly appointed. At the October 2006 Steering Group meeting all members reaffirmed their commitment to the 2007/08 Operational Case. It is proposed that Elected Members be invited to sit on a future Road Safety Strategy Board to ensure openness and transparency of operations. 4.3 The SLA proposes that the Chair of the Steering Group be the Assistant Chief Constable of Dorset Police for the first year of operation but that after that, an external person, possibly an Elected Member, could take over this role. Administrative support for the Steering and Operational Group meetings will continue to come from staff at the DSCP as at present.
4.4 The primary function of the DSRSP will be “the 3E’s” (Engineering, Education and Enforcement) and the group will probably meet 3-4 times yearly. The SLA is taking a medium to long-term view of the partnership, so that all parties involved must be committed to the partnership until the end of March 2011. The SLA is attached at Appendix B and authority is sought for it to be signed off on behalf of Poole by the Acting Head of Transportation Services. It is proposed that once all partners’ Cabinets have given written acceptance of the SLA, then a final sign off meeting will be held within a few weeks.
5. Funding
5.1The existing funding mechanism is a “netting off” or hypothecation system whereby the costs of running the partnership and purchasing additional cameras are returned via an operational case agreed annually between the DfT and the DSCP. The existing funding arrangements are not sustainable in the long term, particularly as speed fines revenue income is likely to reduce over time. The netting-off arrangements currently in place will end in March 2007.
5.2The change in funding administration means that each year the DSRSP project board must apply to each Council for a proportion of funding to maintain the programme. It will be necessary to agree levels of funding by December each year to ensure that the programme can continue. Unless consensus is reached on funding the camera project will stop. The project is not able to function on a reduced or part-time basis. Most staff are full-time employees and technical equipment also has to be maintained at full cost. In addition there is a requirement to maintain a certain level of enforcement to meet the legal duties of Dorset Police. If Councils opt out of this new partnership then they would become liable for the cost of any enforcement carried out in their area.
5.3 Revised funding arrangements will take the place of the existing and these have been incorporated into the Second Local Transport Plan (LTP2) funding from 1st April 2007. The final Grant awarded was announced by the DfT in December 2006 and is largely in line with indicative funding.
5.4 The Road Safety Grant for the DSCP area for 2007/08 totals £2.813M, of which Capital is £512k and Revenue is £2.301M and is detailed in full at Appendix A. The bulk of the overall £2.813M LTP allocation will go direct to Dorset County Council, primarily to fund the Dorset Police share of £1.97M revenue expenditure, which is mainly for staffing and other fixed running costs.
5.5 Poole has been awarded £465k (made up of £85k Capital and £380k Revenue), which is proportionate to the level of the casualty problem here. The actual planned expenditure for work undertaken directly by Poole in 2007/08, from this award will be £106k (£36k Capital and £70k Revenue) which is based on 2006/07 figures. The remainder of the allocation will be used to fund the various DSCP enforcement functions carried out across the whole area.
5.6 The Driver Awareness Scheme (DAS), which is currently running in parallel with the camera operations, is a totally independent scheme run by Dorset Police. It will be contributing to the DSRSP account to the tune of £120k per year based on 10,000 DAS course places at £12 per attendee and this could potentially be increased by £60k in 2008/09. This contribution is necessary because the LTP funding decreases year on year, but the operational fixed costs will increase and there would otherwise be a budget deficit. In addition Dorset Police recognise the fact that DSCP enforcement equipment is used to detect these lower speed violations.
5.7 Currently claims are made by partners via Bournemouth Borough Council’s finance department and the operational case includes for costs to allow this process to continue. The DSCP in its current format will closedown in March 2007, before which time an asset register will be compiled during February 2007 and the final DfT payment will follow this audit in around June 2007.
6. Camera Operations
6.1 The primary objective for camera deployment will remain the reduction of deaths injuries on the roads, by reducing speed and red light violations. The DfT does not want to be prescriptive, however, about camera siting, to reflect any local decision-making and accountability of the Camera Partnership.
6.2 It was recommended as part of the DfT review that locally-agreed deployment criteria are developed and it is proposed that this review will take place during the first year of operation under the new arrangements.
6.3 The operational case for 2007/08 is based on the current level of enforcement, with some 20% of tickets disposed of through the DAS scheme as described in paragraph 5.6 above. There are no plans to increase the overall numbers of fixed speed or red light camera sites currently operational in Poole in 2007/08.
6.4 It is also proposed to continue with the Public Relations team within the Camera Partnership rather than move these functions to the individual Councils’ PR Departments. It is expected that the current practice of full co- operation between PR departments with publicity issues will continue.
7. Casualty Reduction
7.1 The overall aim of the partnership is to continue with the annual target of a 6% year on year reduction in casualties. The casualty target for 2010 across the DSCP area is 287 Killed or Seriously Injured (KSIs) down from a baseline for 1994-98 of 479 KSIs (Poole’s figures are a reduction to 41 KSIs from baseline of 68 KSIs). 7.2 DSCP commenced operations in August 2002 and between then and August 2004 there was an average decrease in KSIs of 10.75% pa. Between April 2004 and March 2006 the average KSI reduction figure was 7.2%. At camera sites this figure was 11.3%. In addition there has been a 16.7% reduction in fatals at camera sites compared with 3% elsewhere in the County. Despite an increase of 4.7% in KSIs between 1999 and 2002 we are now back on track to meet the 2010 target. The figures for Poole show that this target is well on track for being met with a 2006 KSI total of 43, although with smaller numbers of collisions in Poole this situation could well change again next year.
STEPHEN L TITE Acting Service Unit Head
Background Papers TAG Report 13 April 2006 Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact: Martin Baker (01202) 262073
12th December 2006
Appendix A - Local Transport Plan Settlement details Appendix B - Service Level Agreement Appendix C - Terms of Reference of Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership
CAB300107T3A BOROUGH OF POOLE
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY ROUP – THURSDAY 13 APRIL 2006
REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
DORSET SAFETY CAMERA PARTNERSHIP
1. Purpose of Report and Policy Context
1.1 To consider arrangements for continuing the operation of the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership from 1 April 2007.
1.2 The Council’s Transportation Strategy aims to achieve a reduction in injury accidents on our roads.
2. Recommendations
It is recommended that:
2.1 A future report presented to this Group when the details of the new arrangements are finalised.
3. Background
3.1 The Dorset Safety Camera Partnership (DSCP) was formed in 2001 in order to assist the traditional methods of achieving road safety carried out by the Police and Highway Authorities. The Government has set targets to reduce fatal and serious injury accidents (KSIs) by 40% by 2010 and Child KSIs by 50% compared with 1994/98 figures.
3.2 The Partnership is based on the Dorset Police Force area and involves the Highway Authorities of Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset, Dorset Police, Her Majesty’s Court Services (HMCS), the Highways Agency, Dorset & Somerset Strategic Health Authority and the Crown Prosecution Service. The 51 operational staff are employed by Dorset Police and report to the Chief Constable. A further 11 staff are directly employed by HMCS at Latimer House in Poole to process the Fixed Penalty Notices. Members of the Partnership are represented on a steering and operational group.
3.3 The DSCP present a Business Case to the Department for Transport (DfT) every year, typically around £3m per annum, indicating the level of camera/enforcement proposed, the anticipated fine income and the likely casualty reduction resulting from the scheme. While the HMCS collects all of the fines they can only recover the amount stated in the approved Business Case, with any income above this being retained by the Government. In addition any speed tickets which result in Court Appearances are outside the scope of the schemes and cannot be recovered. 4. Arrangements from 2007/08
4.1 The Government have recently announced that from 2007/08 the current Camera Partnerships will no longer exist in their current form, but will instead be incorporated into the wider road safety programmes delivered by the Highway Authorities through additional LTP allocation.
4.2 Letters have been received by each of the Highway Authorities setting out Government funding from 2007/08 to 2010/11, including an enhanced level of funding for casualty reduction.
4.3 The intention is that the operation of this Strategic Partnership will continue alongside the work of the individual authorities, but will be given more freedom in terms of using alternative means such as Speed Indicator Devices, and other speed management measures rather than total reliance on safety cameras. By way of making a positive statement about the changing nature of this Group, it is envisaged that it will be reformed as the Dorset Road Safety Partnership Group.
4.4 All current members of the Steering Group have agreed to the Project Manager preparing a report on the proposed operation of the Partnership from 2007/08 onwards. This will include:
The business case, based on the confirmed level of funding and the anticipated level of casualty reduction which can be achieved. The proposed structure, including direction on strategy, planning and operational issues. The Governance arrangements, including Member involvement. Service Level Agreements between all parties, on the basis of the ongoing employment of the staff by Dorset Police with funding secured through Highway Authorities’ contributions.
Ideally these new arrangements can be finalised and approved in principle such that they can be run in parallel for the last quarter of 2006/07 to ensure a smooth transition at 1 April 2007.
4.5 Issues for Consideration
(a) It is proposed to support the business case providing it is based solely on casualty reduction to ensure ongoing public support. Any measures which are not driven by casualty reduction, e.g. community involvement, perception of high vehicle speeds, etc. must be clearly identified as such.
(b) Funding will be provided to the Partnership on the basis of that allocated by the Government, i.e. this should not impinge financially on the current Highway Authority casualty reduction programme. (c) Government funding, through the Local Transport Plan, will be allocated by means of a mechanism which secures more (or less) based on the existing casualty problem, actual performance and the quality of the Local Transport Plan submission. The relationship with the Strategic Partnership needs to reflect this.
(d) Dorset Police currently operate their own Driver Awareness Scheme whereby the Chief Constable can, at his discretion, choose not to prosecute low level speeding offences but advise attendance at half day training courses instead. The operation of this, which is currently outside of the existing Partnership, needs to be clearly recognised, particularly where Partnership resources are being used.
JAMES T BRIGHT Head of Transportation Services
Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact: Steve Tite (01202) 262020
TAG130406T3B APPENDIX A LOCAL TRANSPORT PLANS SAFETY CAMERA FINANCIAL DETAILS
INCOME (2007/08) £ PLANNED EXPENDITURE £ (Capital & Revenue) 2007/08 (Capital & Revenue)
Specific Road Safety Grant for 465,023 Planned Expenditure 105,385 Poole directly by Poole Specific Road Safety Grant for 2,347,917 Planned Expenditure for 2,829,866 Dorset CC & Bournemouth Dorset CC, Bournemouth BC BC & DSCP over total area Total Road Safety Grant for 2,812,940 Dorset Police Force Area Additional Income from Driver 125,000 Awareness Scheme
TOTAL INCOME 2,932,940 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2,935,251 NET BALANCE -2,311