August 2013 WORCESTERSHIRE LOCAL TRANSPORT BOARD MAJOR SCHEME PRIORITISATION Worcestershire County Council 3513092A-PTE/1/02 Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation 3513092A-PTE /1/02 Prepared for Worcestershire County Council County Hall Spetchley Road Worcester WR5 2NP Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff The Forum Barnfield Road Exeter EX1 1QR 01392 229700 www.pbworld.com Report Title : Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation Report Status : Final Job No : 3513092A-PTE Date : August 2013 DOCUMENT HISTORY AND STATUS Document control Checked by Prepared by Ian Beavis Ian Beavis (technical) Checked by Approved by Ian Harrison Ian Beavis (quality assurance) Revision details Pages Version Date Comments affected 1.0 July 2013 All Draft Report 2.0 August 2013 All Final Report Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation AUTHORISATION SHEET Client: Worcestershire County Council Project: Worcestershire Local Transport Board – Major Scheme Prioritisation Address: County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP PREPARED BY Name: Ian Beavis Position: Associate, Transportation Planning Date: August 2013 AGREED BY Name: Ian Harrison Position: Consultant, Transportation Planning Date: August 2013 AUTHORISED FOR ISSUE Name: Ian Beavis Position: Associate, Transportation Planning Date: August 2013 DISTRIBUTION ACCEPTED BY Name: Peter Blake Position: Worcestershire County Council Date: August 2013 Name: Roy Fullee Position: Worcestershire County Council Date: August 2013 Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 1 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 1 INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 Background 8 1.2 Candidate Schemes 8 1.3 Purpose of Note 9 2 LOCAL TRANSPORT BOARD MAJOR SCHEME FUNDING PROCESS 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Funding 11 2.3 Role of Independent Transport Advisor 11 2.4 Assurance Framework 12 3 CANDIDATE SCHEMES 15 3.1 Introduction 15 3.2 A4440 Southern Link Road 15 3.3 Worcestershire Parkway (Phase 1) 15 3.4 Hoobrook Link Road 15 3.5 Pershore Northern Link 16 4 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 18 4.1 Overview of Process 18 4.2 Objectives 19 4.3 Stage 1 – Screening 20 4.4 Stage 2 – Prioritisation 22 4.5 Stage 3 – Blending 23 5 STAGE 1 – SCREENING 25 5.1 Introduction 25 5.2 Outputs of Screening Process 25 5.3 Conclusion 26 6 STAGE 2 – PRIORITISATION 28 6.1 Introduction 28 6.2 Outputs of Prioritisation Process 28 6.3 Prioritisation Review 28 6.4 Conclusion 28 7 STAGE 3 – BLENDING AND RECOMMENDATIONS 30 7.1 Blending 30 7.2 Programme and Funding 30 7.3 Prioritisation 31 7.4 Recommendations 31 Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 2 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation TABLES Page Table E1 – Outputs from Prioritisation Process 6 Table E2 – Recommended Funding Programme (2015 – 2019) 6 Table 1 – Screening Criteria and Pass Thresholds 21 Table 2 – Prioritisation Criteria and Weightings 22 Table 3 – Outputs from Screening Process 26 Table 4 – Outputs from Prioritisation Process 28 Table 5 – Recommended Funding Programme (2015 – 2019) 30 APPENDICES Page Appendix 1 – Draft Assurance Framework 33 Appendix 2 – Submitted Scheme Pro-formas 34 Appendix 3 – Prioritisation Categorisation Table 35 Appendix 4 – Scheme Score Sheets 36 Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 3 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 4 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Summary This report details the process that has been used to assess and prioritise scheme submitted to the Worcestershire Local Transport Board for major scheme funding. The Worcestershire LTB has provisionally been allocated £11.5m of devolved major scheme funding for the funding period from 2015 to 2019. The DfT have advised that the funding allocation could be increased or decreased by up to 30% (ranging from £8.05m to £14.95m). The following four schemes were submitted for assessment (the promoting authority is shown in brackets): x A4440 Southern Link Road, Worcester (Worcestershire County Council) x Worcestershire Parkway, near Worcester (Worcestershire County Council) x Hoobrook Link Road, Kidderminster (Worcestershire County Council) x Pershore Northern Link, Pershore (Wychavon District Council) The DfT requires LTBs to publish and submit to them a prioritised list of schemes by 31st July 2013. Assessment Methodology The assessment process has consisted of three stages: x Stage 1 – Screening: this consists of a pass / fail gateway to ensure that submitted schemes meet key, baseline criteria and can be taken forward for fuller assessment in Stage 2; x Stage 2 – Prioritisation: this assesses and scores schemes against the key objectives of the LTB. The objectives are weighted to allow high priority to be placed on key objectives of the programme; x Stage 3 – Blending: this builds on the prioritisation stage to develop a funding programme, by considering other relevant factors such as affordability, deliverability and delivery programme. Outputs from Assessment Processes Screening The outputs from screening process show that all 4 schemes pass the screening assessment and should be taken forward for fuller assessment in Stage 2 (prioritisation). Prioritisation The outputs of the prioritisation process are shown in the following table: Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 5 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation Criteria Score Funding Sought (£m) A4440 Southern Link Road 33 7.00 Hoobrook Link Road 28 2.50 Worcestershire Parkway 28 2.10 Pershore Link Road 19 1.65 Total Funding Sought 13.25 Table E1 – Outputs from Prioritisation Process The prioritisation process (Stage 2) has been completed and provides a prioritised list of schemes to be taken forward to Stage 3 (blending). Blending The blending process (Stage 3) has recommended that the following schemes be included within the prioritised programme: Criteria Recommendation A4440 Southern Link Road Hoobrook Link Road Recommended for funding Worcestershire Parkway Pershore Northern Link On reserve list should funding be increased Table E2 – Recommended Funding Programme (2015 – 2019) Prioritisation In terms of prioritisation of schemes, it is suggested that the highest priority should be placed with the Hoobrook Link Road scheme. This is primarily due to the timescales associated with the secured Pinchpoint funding, and hence it is important to move to submission of a Business Case as quickly as possible. Recommendations It is recommended that, for schemes to be progressed to the stage where a Business Case can be submitted for Programme Entry, work is progressed with urgency for all schemes; this is particularly relevant for the three schemes which will require the involvement of Network Rail. Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 6 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff August 2013 for Worcestershire County Council - 7 - Worcestershire Local Transport Board - Major Scheme Prioritisation 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT) in November 2011 confirmed the intention of the Government to devolve major transport scheme funding from the DfT to Local Transport Bodies (LTBs) by 2015. The primary role of LTBs will be to decide which investments should be prioritised in their area, to review and approve individual business cases for those investments and to ensure effective delivery of the programme. 1.1.2 The Worcestershire Local Transport Board (LTB) will therefore now manage the development and delivery of major transport schemes in Worcestershire. The Worcestershire LTB consists of members from Worcestershire County Council, Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Birmingham and Solihull LEP and Worcestershire District Councils. Representatives from Network Rail / Highways Agency and Worcestershire Transport Operators will also form part of the LTB, but in a non-voting capacity1. 1.1.3 As part of this process, the DfT requires LTBs to publish and submit to them a prioritised list of transport schemes by the end of July 2013, for the funding period from 2015 to 2019. 1.1.4 Parsons Brinkerhoff has been commissioned by Worcestershire County Council, as the Accountable Body for Worcestershire LTB, to act as the Independent Transport Advisor to the LTB. The role of the ITA includes developing a suitable process for the prioritisation of major schemes, carrying out this process and providing independent advice and support to the LTB. 1.2 Candidate Schemes 1.2.1 In order to be considered for funding for the 2015 to 2019 period, scheme promoters were required to submit candidate schemes to the LTB by 31st May 2013. The following four schemes were submitted (the promoting authority is shown in brackets): x A4440 Southern Link Road, Worcester (Worcestershire County Council) x Worcestershire Parkway, near Worcester (Worcestershire County Council) x Hoobrook Link Road, Kidderminster (Worcestershire County Council) x Pershore Northern Link, Pershore (Wychavon District Council) 1.2.2 Further information on these schemes is provided in Section 3 of this report.