The Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership 2008-09

BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – 3 APRIL 2008

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

THE DORSET STRATEGIC ROAD SAFETY PARTNERSHIP 2008-09

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To seek approval to continue with the revised funding mechanism for Safety Camera Enforcement across the Dorset Police Force Area in 2008/09.

2. Recommendation

It is recommended that Members:

2.1 Agree to use the entire allocation from the Second Local Transport Plan (LTP2) Specific Road Safety Grant for 20080/9 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 Head of Transportation Services, or his nominated representative, to agree and sign off the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) on behalf of the Authority.

2.3 Agree to the Portfolio Holder for Transportation, or his nominated representative, to continue as the Borough’s representative Member on the Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership Steering Group.

3. Context

3.1 The change in the way that the Dorset Safety Camera Partnerships was funded came against a background of a second LTP which was deemed to be “Fair” and the Road Safety element of which was assessed as being “Excellent”. In the Dorset Police force area it is proposed that Safety Cameras will be funded as part of a specific Road Safety Grant over the next three years.

1 3.2 While 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. It is not planned to make any radical changes to the operational arrangements for 2008/09 other than those outlined in paragraph 6.4.

3.3 The new arrangements give local authorities greater freedom and flexibility to pursue whichever measures they see fit in order to reduce road casualties locally. The Department for Transport (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.

3.33.4 In terms of governance the Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership (DSRSP), which is made up of elected members and senior officers involved in making strategic decisions about the direction of road safety policy across Dorset.

4. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

4.1 The original SLA was agreed by this Council’s Executive Committee on 30 January 2007. A similar agreement is now required for continued operations from 2008/09 to 2010/11. This is the fundamental working document for the whole project and will be subject to annual review and subsequent agreement.

4.2 The SLA confirms ownership of assets and responsibilities within the partnership. The DSRSP agreed that an SLA be drawn up for all parties to sign to ensure continuity and to see that all funds are correctly appointed.

4.3 The SLA provides that the Chair of the Steering Group be the Assistant Chief Constable of Dorset Police with the provision that 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.

4.4 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. Authority is therefore sought for the SLA to be signed off on behalf of Poole by the Head of Transportation Services or his nominated representative.

5. Funding

5.2The funding mechanism requires that the DSRSP project board must apply to the three local highway authorities for a proportion of funding to maintain the programme. It is necessary to agree levels of funding each year to ensure that the programme can continue. Unless consensus is reached on funding the camera project will stop. If Councils opt out of this new partnership then they would become liable for the cost of any enforcement carried out in their area.

2 5.2 The funding arrangements have been incorporated into LTP2. The final grants awarded were announced by the DfT on 27 November 2007 and are in line with indicative funding. Funding levels for 2008-2011 are shown at Appendix A.

5.3 The Driver Awareness Scheme (DAS), which is currently running in parallel with the camera operations, is an independent scheme run by Dorset Police. DAS will be contributing to the DSRSP account to the tune of £182,000 in 2008/09. This contribution is necessary because the LTP2 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 being used to detect these lower end speed violations.

4.6 4.7

 6. Camera Operations Strategy

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 and also to deny criminals the use of the road. In addition other apparatus will be used to make drivers aware of their speeds, such as Speed Indicator Devices.

6.2 The operational case for 2008/09 is based on current levels of enforcement, with some 25% of tickets disposed of through the DAS scheme as described in paragraph 5.3 above. There are no plans to increase the overall numbers of fixed speed or red light camera sites currently operational in Poole in 2008/09.

6.3 It is 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 contentious publicity issues will continue.

6.4 The DSCP has been using wet film Gatso and laser video cameras for some time and this technology has now largely been superseded by digital cameras. It is proposed to trial two RedSpeed digital cameras this year, and if the trials are successful, gradually replace the existing infrastructure over the coming years. It is also proposed to evaluate the possibility of introducing time over distance cameras and funds have been set aside for this study in 2008/09.

7. Casualty Reduction

7.1 The overall aim of the partnership remains the annual target of a 6.2% 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. Between 2002 and 2006 there has been a 33% decrease in KSI casualties across Dorset. Between 2005 and 2006 there was a 20% reduction in KSIs at camera sites, compared to a 9% reduction at locations without cameras. The figures for Poole show a 2007 KSI total of 63 against a target of 48, whereas in 2006 the total was 43 against a target of 50. The hope and expectation is that the figures will be back on track to meet the KSI target of 45 in 2008.

JULIAN McLAUGHLIN

4 Head of Transportation Services

Appendix A - LTP Specific Road Safety Grant Details

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact: Martin Baker (01202) 262073

TAG030408T3H

APPENDIX A

SPECIFIC ROAD SAFETY GRANT AND PLANNED EXPENDITURE 2008/09

INCOME (2008/09) £ PLANNED EXPENDITURE £ (Capital & Revenue) 2008/09 (Capital & Revenue)

Specific Road Safety Grant for 448,163 Planned Expenditure 107,200 Poole directly by Poole Specific Road Safety Grant for 2,262,793 Planned Expenditure for 2,738,479 Dorset CC & Bournemouth Dorset CC, Bournemouth BC BC & DSCP Total Road Safety Grant for 2,710,956 Dorset Police Force Area Additional Income from Driver 182,000 Awareness Scheme

TOTAL INCOME 2,892,956 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2,845,679 NET BALANCE 47,277

SPECIFIC ROAD SAFETY GRANT 2008-2011

5 £s 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Dorset CC Capital £310,542 £299,712 £289,332 Revenue £1,395,731 £1,347,053 £1,300,402 Total SRSG for Dorset CC £1,706,273 £1,646,765 £1,589,734 Bournemouth Borough Council Capital £101,287 £97,731 £94,346 Revenue £455,233 £439,249 £424,038 Total SRSG for Bournemouth BC £556,520 £536,980 £518,384 Borough of Poole Capital £81,566 £78,704 £75,978 Revenue £366,597 £353,732 £341,482 Total SRSG for Poole £448,163 £432,436 £417,460 Overall Partnership Area Capital £493,395 £476,147 £459,656 Revenue £2,217,561 £2,140,034 £2,065,922 Total SRSG £2,710,956 £2,616,181 £2,525,578