The Local Government Context
The Metropolitan Authorities recognise the importance of a corporate approach in helping to deliver broader policy aspirations. The Leaders of the seven Metropolitan Councils and the Passenger Transport Authority (PTA) have met regularly, specifically to review transportation strategy for the Area in the context of corporate priorities and the emerging ideas from the the other studies underway.
The Chief Executives of the Councils and the Director-General of the Passenger Transport Executive (Centro) are actively involved in the development of our LTP2 and how it affects their Authorities. They have set up a Transport Group to focus on relevant issues and ensure that the LTP2 reflects and supports corporate priorities.
Strategic decisions relating to the LTP and its implementation are taken by a Joint Planning & Transportation Sub-Committee of lead elected members from each Council and the PTA. This Joint Sub-Committee oversees preparation of the LTP and commends it for adoption to each of the Authorities.
This Joint Sub-Committee is supported by the Chief Engineers and Planning Officers Group (CEPOG), consisting of the relevant engineering, planning and transportation chief officers. They meet regularly and work together with the Government Office for the West Midlands, Advantage West Midlands, Regional Assembly and Highways Agency. CEPOG is supported by a dedicated team of strategic transportation and planning officers – the CEPOG Support Team. The CEPOG Support Team (CST) and each Authority’s LTP officers jointly review progress in order to ensure that this LTP addresses the issues in a realistic, deliverable and economic way.
Within each Authority, LTP officers have worked with officers from relevant parts of their Authorities to ensure that development of the LTP2 is a corporate activity. This enables travel needs within each Authority to be taken into account, and helps other officers appreciate and work towards coordinated and sustainable decisions in their service areas. One advantage is that CEPOG officers often have responsibility for a range of internal activities in addition to transport and planning. For example the Wolverhampton transport representative heads the Regeneration section as well, and the Birmingham representative is responsible for Economic Development Strategy. Similarly they take an active part in regional work, for example. the current Chair of the Regional Advisors Group (who provide policy advice to the Regional Assembly) is a CEPOG member from Coventry.
CST officers have worked with others, such as Rights of Way Officers and Environmental Health Officers, to focus on particular issues. The latter group has a significant role in helping to tackle transport-related air quality issues.
CEPOG and the development of the LTP2 are also supported by a number of other officer groups. For example, the District Maintenance Engineers Group shares good practice and establishes value-for-money arrangements using its combined purchasing power. The Traffic Managers Group advises on network management and efficiency issues.
Figure 2 ‘Administrative Structure’ illustrates the coordinated and cross-cutting nature of the working arrangements at all levels, which are designed to ensure that the LTP2 is a truly corporate document.
These arrangements ensure that the issues and work contributing to and flowing from the LTP are coordinated across the Metropolitan Authorities and throughout their structures, and closely involve key partners.