Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru |
National Assembly for Wales |
Pwyllgor yr Economi, Seilwaith a Sgiliau |
Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee |
Datblygu Trafnidiaeth Cymru yn y dyfodol |
The future development of Transport for Wales |
EIS(5) FDTfW16 |
|
Ymateb gan Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru |
Evidence from Welsh Local Government Association |
1. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) represents the 22 local authorities in Wales, and the three national park authorities and the three fire and rescue authorities are associate members.
2. It seeks to provide representation to local authorities within an emerging policy framework that satisfies the key priorities of our members and delivers a broad range of services that add value to Welsh Local Government and the communities they serve.
3. We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee inquiry into the future development of Transport for Wales.
4.
Transport
for Wales (TfW) is a relatively new and growing organisation. It is
in the process of recruiting and therefore its structure is still
under development. Its website (Transport
for Wales website)
contains details of its Board of Directors and its Executive Team.
It also contains a summary business plan for 2018-20, its annual
report and financial statement for the year ending 31st
March 2018, and minutes of Board meetings since May
2018.
5.
The
business plan:
· makes clear it is a not-for-profit company, wholly owned by the Welsh Government
· states its remit as being to provide technical advice to allow the Welsh Government to develop policy and to be ‘the primary delivery body for the Welsh Government’s transport policy’ (p. 9)
· sets out the values of the organisation
· identifies the legal and statutory duties and the non-statutory requirements that establish the environment in which it operates
·
states
that the organisation is ready to grow and take on further
responsibilities wherever an acceptable business case can be
made.
6. It also includes a specific section on governance which states:
The
structures and governance arrangements for Transport for Wales and
its relationship with the Welsh Government have been developed in
accordance with the guidance on managing relationships with
external partners found in Chapter 7 of Managing Welsh Public Money
and Annexes 7.1 – 7.4. UK Government Cabinet Office guidance
on establishing public bodies has also been considered (p.
8).
7.
In
relation to TfW’s funding, its Business Plan identifies
resource and capital expenditure, both increasing from 2018/19 to
2019/20 (from £102m to £181m and from £55m to
£148m respectively).
8.
A
Management Agreement has very recently (November 2018) been
published on the Welsh Government website, which contains
information about governance, management and financial
responsibilities.
9.
All of
that information is in the public domain, providing a good level of
transparency. This marks a significant improvement from the early
days of TfW when there was, understandably in many ways, little
readily available information about the organisation.
10.
In
particular, there has been limited detail on how Transport for
Wales is intended to evolve in future. Some of the statements that
have been made by Welsh Government have suggested an expansive
role. This, potentially, could see TfW taking over functions
currently performed by local authorities. For example, in February
2018, when addressing the National Assembly, the Cabinet Secretary
stated that “our aim is that the public transport network
will be increasingly directly owned or operated by Transport for
Wales” and that TfW’s role: “might include
bus services, it could include rail services, the construction of
capital transport and improvement for walking and cycling. It could
include capital projects for rail and, of course, for roads as
well”.
11.
It is
vitally important that TfW’s plans and activities are shared
at the earliest possible stage with local authorities. This will
ensure there are opportunities to debate, and where necessary
challenge, proposals and agree a way forward. Forms of joint
working must be developed that will prevent situations whereby
near-final plans emerge from TfW, with major implications for local
authorities, where there has been little or no involvement.
Encouragingly, there have been some good, recent examples of TfW
engaging in a co-productive approach and this needs to extend to
all operations across Wales.
12.
It is
known that many people in posts in TfW have transferred across from
the Transport department of Welsh Government, supplemented by
external recruits. The intention is understood to be that the
policy function and related roles will remain in Welsh Government,
whilst functions and roles associated with delivery will transfer
across to TfW. This distinction is not always clear-cut, however,
as those in policy roles often need to understand and be closely
involved in delivery issues (e.g. agreeing on project and funding
variations as new information comes to light). It will be important
when working with partners such as local authorities that there is
clarity over respective responsibilities to avoid a situation where
different views are being expressed and/or there is duplication of
requirements for information.
13.
It is
also unclear if the TFW workforce is covered by the equivalent of
the Civil Service code of conduct (the Management Agreement refers
to ‘a code of conduct’) and, if not, what does
the code say about actions / behaviour? Similarly, if remuneration
levels in TfW are determined on a more ‘commercial’
basis, this could result in anomalies with similar posts in local
authorities.
14.
Finally,
in relation to funding, Welsh Government has put indicative
five-year funding in place for TfW. This is something that local
authorities have called for over many years. It raises the question
as to why it is possible to do this for TfW but not for local
authorities? Does it mean that, in any future cuts, TfW’s
budgets would be protected whilst the local authorities would bear
the brunt?
15.
Whilst
recognising that the structure of TfW is still evolving,
organograms would be useful for partner organisations. These
can help to explain planned organisational
arrangements/developments and identify posts that have been filled
(with names) and those still to be filled. They give a good
indication of the extent of operations and responsibilities and
help to identify the most appropriate contacts.
16. Both in terms of strategic planning and day-to-day operations a crucially important consideration relates to local democratic accountability. Decisions about highways and transport affecting an area impact on virtually every resident in one way or another. Local authorities have well-established systems whereby locally-elected Members represent the interests of their residents. As such, they need to be kept informed of plans and given opportunities to feed views into the decision-making processes. In a local authority setting, governance arrangements ensure that Full Councils discuss and agree major strategic plans and budgets. Scrutiny committees can ‘call in’ Cabinet decisions and hold the Executive to account. Good practice is for major highways and transport-related developments to be subject to consultation with relevant local communities, again with active involvement of local members. If TfW is to become involved in delivery in ways that include work on behalf of local authorities it will be important for them to respect such arrangements. Accountability to local and Cabinet Members will need to be considered as well as to Ministers. Similarly, accountabilities to Regional Transport Authorities (or similar) need to be agreed too.
17. A related issue would be the legal status of any advice provided by TfW to local authorities. Where would liability rest if advice is acted upon and subsequently results in financial loss or injury?
18.
As
suggested in paras. 10-11 above, it would be difficult – and
wrong - to try and draw up at this point a list of additional
responsibilities for TfW to take on. As the TfW Business Plan
states, decisions on such issues must be taken on an evidenced,
business case basis. In developing such business cases it will be
important to take on board the views of stakeholders, including
local authorities at the earliest possible opportunity.
19.
There
may well be opportunities for TfW to take on roles that would be
beneficial and acceptable to all concerned. Certainly, the last
decade has seen the capacity of local authority transport teams
reduced markedly as a result of austerity-driven cuts. The demise
of the Regional Transport Consortia has also resulted in a loss of
expertise, especially in relation to strategic transport planning
and modelling. Access to a central resource such as TfW that can
help to overcome these capacity issues, and assist and advise on
delivery matters, could be an attractive proposition for local
authorities. It must be stressed, though, that business cases
proposing the transfer of functions from local authorities to TfW
would be unacceptable if they depend on additional resources
being founds after transfer to enable TfW to do effectively
the same thing.
20. Recently, we have seen a resurrection of regional transport arrangements, linked to wider regional development work and City/Growth Deals. The Cardiff Capital Region now has a (non-statutory) Regional Transport Authority and the other three regions (South West, Mid and North Wales) are all at various stages of rebuilding the regional level bodies/committees that existed under SEWTA, SWWITCH, TraCC and Taith. Dialogue must table place to secure agreement on the bodies and structures needed to deliver transport most effectively across Wales.
21. Welsh Government is currently consulting on a White Paper on Public Transport that proposes additional powers in relation to the formation and operation of Joint Transport Authorities. Such proposals need to be considered in light of existing and emerging regional arrangements and the possibilities for developing TfW’s role. It will be vitally important that the way forward is co-produced, and not imposed, as any successful future arrangements will depend on there being a relationship of co-operation and trust.
22.
WLGA
organised a meeting in November 2018 between the chairs of the four
regional transport bodies, Welsh Government and TfW to discuss
opportunities for working together in future. The meeting was very
constructive and it was agreed that such discussions should
continue to take place. Joint working of this nature would appear
to be an effective way to develop future roles in an integrated
way. It will allow ideas to be shared, considered via established
arrangements in each region and then, where appropriate, worked up
in more detail.