Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Ref HT06(13/14) Approval of the Governance and operation of the Key Decision: Coast to Capital Local Transport Body Yes July 2013 Part I Report by Executive Director Communities Electoral Commissioning and Strategic Planning Manager Division(s): All Executive Summary The County Council seeks to establish a Local Transport Body for the Coast to Capital area along with Surrey County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. It will be known as the Coast to Capital Transport Body (the LTB) and it will decide priorities and manage a programme of investment in local major transport schemes in the Coast to Capital area (including West Sussex) from 2015 onwards. This report includes details of the proposed governance and decision-making arrangements, scheme assessment and administration for the LTB. Recommendations 1) To enter into formal arrangements with Surrey County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership to establish the Coast to Capital Transport Body (the LTB) to administer devolved funding for local major transport schemes, through an agreement approved and signed by the Head of Law and Governance; 2) To approve that the County Council assumes the role of accountable body for the LTB as outlined in paragraph 1.4; and 3) To approve the arrangements for governance, scheme assessment, decision-making and administration of the LTB summarised in Appendix A, subject to the satisfactory resolution of issues as described in paragraph 2.4 – 2.5. 1. Introduction 1.1 In November 2012, the Department for Transport (DfT) published its intention to devolve decision-making on local major transport schemes to newly created Local Transport Bodies based on the geographical areas covered by the Local Enterprise Partnerships. The County Council is in the process of establishing a Local Transport Body for the Coast to Capital area along with Surrey County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. It will be known as the Coast to Capital Transport Body (the LTB) which will be governed by a Board comprised of nominated elected members or their deputies from the local authority partners and a representative from the Board of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. 1.2 The LTB will make decisions on local major transport schemes in the Coast to Capital area (excluding London Borough of Croydon and Lewes District as these areas are covered by other local transport bodies) and manage an investment programme from 2015 onwards. The LTB has agreed that, other than in exceptional circumstances, local major transport schemes are defined as schemes or packages of schemes costing at least £2m (capital). Transport schemes are expected to be proposed and delivered by scheme promoters in the Coast to Capital area which are most likely to include local authorities (including the County Council), government agencies (e.g. Highways Agency), airport and public transport operators. 1.3 The role of the LTB and principles of its governance arrangements are set out in an Assurance Framework (appendix A). The Assurance Framework outlines the approach agreed by the Board to provide assurance to the DfT that it has, or intends to put in place, appropriate arrangements for governance, scheme assessment, decision-making and administration of government funding devolved to the Coast to Capital area. It summarises the transparency and democratic accountability which will stand up to public scrutiny. The detail of how this will happen in practice and how the responsibilities of the members of the Board will be discharged, distributed and funded are more fully detailed in the agreement. 1.4 At the request of the DfT, the LTB must appoint an accountable body to administer funds on behalf of the LTB and take ultimate responsibility for its decisions. Given that the Coast to Capital area includes West Sussex in its entirety and the County stands to benefit from the arrangements as a result of investment in infrastructure projects, it is proposed that the County Council will take on this role. To provide a legal basis for this and ensure that costs and risks are appropriately shared on an equitable basis with the other partners, a formal agreement will be prepared and signed by all partners. The primary responsibilities of the accountable body shall be: ensuring that the decisions and activities of the LTB conform with all relevant legal requirements including equality, environmental and EU legislation; to hold the devolved major scheme funding and make payments to local authorities and others as directed by the Board; ensuring that funds are used appropriately; ensuring that the Assurance Framework is adhered to; maintaining the official record of LTB proceedings and holding all LTB documents; and the procedures used by the LTB in approving schemes. 2. Consultation 2.1 The draft Assurance Framework was prepared with Surrey County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. Each has contributed to its production and it reflects the needs and aspirations of the Coast to Capital area. 2.2 It is anticipated that consultation with local stakeholders and communities will take place, as necessary, on individual schemes, programmes or in relation to specific projects undertaken by the LTB. Consultation has not been carried out on the Assurance Framework as this has been prepared to meet the requirements prescribed by the DfT. 2.3 The draft Assurance Framework was prepared in line with DfT requirements. 2.4 In July 2013, the DfT approved the Assurance Framework subject to providing additional information about: arrangements for independent review of scheme appraisals; production and scrutiny of value for money statements; arrangements for signing off scheme appraisals; the limited circumstances in which schemes with lower value for money could be funded; and arrangements for publication of evaluation plans and reports. 2.5 None of these issues is considered to be substantive. As a consequence, it is recommended that officers be permitted to agree a satisfactory resolution to these issues jointly with the other partners and the DfT in consultation eith the Cabinet Member. The final Assurance Framework will be published for all members. 3. Customer Focus Appraisal 3.1 This decision is required to establish new governance and decision-making arrangements which should not materially affect groups with protected characteristics because decisions on schemes, programmes or projects which have the potential to impact on groups with protected characteristics are not being made at this stage. A customer focus appraisal has been prepared which indicates some of the issues which affect groups with protected characteristics that will need to be considered for schemes or programmes of schemes. It also recommends that arrangements for decision-making by the LTB have appropriate regard for the needs of customers and those with protected characteristics. 4. Resource Implications and Value for Money 4.1 The Board of the LTB has indicated in its Assurance Framework that it wishes to keep administrative costs to a minimum to ensure that spending on transport schemes is maximised. However, in entering into the agreement, it must be recognised that there will be ongoing resource implications for the County Council and the others associated with the administration and the management of its investment programme. This work has previously been carried out by the regional bodies which were abolished by the current Government in 2010 and no commitment has been made to provide additional funding to local authorities to cover the resource implications resulting from the introduction of these arrangements. 4.2 The staff resource to support the day to day management of the partnership will come from the Strategic Planning business unit with occasional support, as necessary, from other teams in the highways and transport service. This resource implication is expected to be met from within existing resource levels and supplemented by a two year temporary post which has been created to support the increasing workload in strategic transport planning resulting from the separate decision to prepare a Strategic Transport Investment Programme. 4.3 As a result of assuming the accountable body role, as outlined in paragraph 1.4, there will be ongoing resource implications for legal and financial services in executing this role. The implications for financial services principally relate to the administration of funds, processing grant claims and quarterly reporting to the Board. The implications for legal services principally relate to ad hoc legal matters such as preparation or review of the agreement or challenges to LTB decisions which require input from legal services. In line with the principle of sharing costs and liabilities on an equitable basis, it is expected that costs incurred by the County Council in carrying out the role of the accountable body will be recovered from the other partners through in kind contributions or other mechanisms detailed in the agreement. These arrangements will also be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that they are working effectively. 4.4 In January 2013, the DfT announced indicative budget allocations for each LTB. The total indicative budget for the Coast to Capital area in 2015-19 is £36.3m. Although this budget remains to be confirmed,