Agenda item

(Lead Member: The Mayor, Director: Liz Hunter)

Resolved:

(a)      That the Combined Authority notes the Government’s proposals for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement and agrees to submit a CRSTS proposal for the 5-year period 2022/23 to 2026/27 to the Department for Transport, which is aligned to accelerating the delivery of the West Yorkshire Connectivity Infrastructure Plan.

(b)      That the Combined Authority agrees to delegate the decision on the detail of the final City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement submission to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and Chair of Transport Committee.

(c)      That the Combined Authority notes the Government’s proposals for Active Travel Fund Local Authority Capital Funding for 2021/22 and agrees to submit a bid proposal and Expressions of Interests to the Department for Transport.

(d)      That the Combined Authority agrees to delegate the decision on the detail of the final bid proposal and Expression of Interests to the DfT Active Travel Fund Local Authority Capital Fund for 2021/22 to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and Chair of the Transport Committee’s Active Travel Members Working Group.

The Combined Authority considered a report from the Director of Policy and Development on the Government’s approach to Intra City Transport Settlements, and on the government’s Active Travel Fund.

It was noted that the Intra City Transport Settlements scheme had now been renamed to the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. The project was recognised as an exciting and valuable opportunity of £4.2 billion for long-term transport settlements to be divided between eight Mayoral Combined Authorities, for a five year settlement running from 2022-23 to 2026-27.

It was cautioned that there was a match fund element to the scheme, and bids would need to be completed by the end of August. Because this timetable prevented bids being returned to the Combined Authority before the submission deadline, it was recommended that approval of the detail of the final bid be delegated to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and the Chair of the Transport Committee. Details of the bid would be circulated to all Members.

Members expressed reservations about the match fund element of the scheme, questioning what might have to be sacrificed if funding that had already been pledged elsewhere had to be recycled, and noted that this and the bidding requirement ran the risk of leading to the richest areas of the country taking the greatest benefits. However, Members praised the opportunities this funding would provide in propelling the economy forward and in supporting inclusive growth throughout the region. Plans were already in place for how the funding could be used. The social prescribing and active travel elements of the Active Travel fund were also welcomed.

Members noted that different geographies throughout the region, particularly in its valleys, would provide their own restrictions on what might be possible to deliver, highlighting this as an important factor to consider going forward.

The recommendation put to the Combined Authority regarding the bid to the DfT Active Travel Fund Local Authority Capital Fund was noted to be different than that in the published report, which had mistakenly recommended delegation to the Chair of the Active Travel Working Group rather than to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and the Chair of the Active Travel Working Group.

Resolved:

(a)      That the Combined Authority notes the Government’s proposals for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement and agrees to submit a CRSTS proposal for the 5-year period 2022/23 to 2026/27 to the Department for Transport, which is aligned to accelerating the delivery of the West Yorkshire Connectivity Infrastructure Plan.

(b)      That the Combined Authority agrees to delegate the decision on the detail of the final City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement submission to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and Chair of Transport Committee.

(c)      That the Combined Authority notes the Government’s proposals for Active Travel Fund Local Authority Capital Funding for 2021/22 and agrees to submit a bid proposal and Expressions of Interests to the Department for Transport.

(d)      That the Combined Authority agrees to delegate the decision on the detail of the final bid proposal and Expression of Interests to the DfT Active Travel Fund Local Authority Capital Fund for 2021/22 to the Managing Director in consultation with the Mayor and Chair of the Transport Committee’s Active Travel Members Working Group.