Evidence from Cardiff Capital Region Transport Authority
Introduction
1.
This response is being submitted by the Cardiff Capital Region
Transport Authority (CCRTA), whose objectives are to connect communities, business, jobs,
facilities and services in the area. The CCRTA is a sub-committee of the Cardiff Capital Region
City Deal Cabinet and has been established to facilitate the City
Deal by coordinating transport planning and investment
across the region.
2.
The development and integration of a
new transport system plays a vital role in the economic
transformation of the Cardiff Capital Region as it is essential for connecting communities and
will enable individuals to travel. The improved transportation of
the Capital Region can also bring potential opportunities to new
areas for further economic development and expansion.
3.
The CCRTA is chaired by the Leader of
Bridgend County Borough Council and plays a key role in advising
the CCR Cabinet on recommended strategies to achieve transport
objectives within the region. It works closely with and supports
local authorities in any transport-related collaboration and
imparts transport expertise when needed.
Response to questions;
Whether the current governance, structure and funding of
Transport for Wales are effective and transparent?
4.
The governance structure of TfW is a
particularly important feature as consideration is given to the
potential for extending their role related to the management,
procurement, delivery and support of transport infrastructure and
services across Wales.
-
TfW has established a website which
provides information about TfW, stating, “Transport for Wales
exists to drive forward the Welsh Government’s vision of a
high quality, safe, integrated, affordable and accessible transport
network that the people of Wales are proud of. Transport for Wales
is key to delivering the Welsh Government’s key themes as set
out in Prosperity for All: The National
Strategy.”
-
The recent successful rail
franchise procurement exercise is an excellent example of the need
for, and benefits of, having an organisation that has the capacity
and capability to deal with complex Wales-wide transport
issues.
-
The integration of bus with rail,
including coordination of services and ticketing solutions, will
also require a Wales-wide approach by TfW, supported by the
regions. This inevitably requires TfW to be set up to enable it to
manage integrated ticketing and coordination on a continuing basis.
The management of TrawsCymru and TravelineCymru must also be
fully
integrated with TfW.
-
The governance should therefore be
appropriate to nationally significant transport issues and
strategic implementation of Welsh Government Transport and Economic
policy. Consequently, TfW should be fully
accountable to National Assembly
Members.
-
Whatever the extent of TfW's future
powers and its management / delivery role, it will be dependent on
funding and the level of resources that it has available will
determine its ability to undertake the role effectively. It is
noted that WG has agreed indicative five-year funding for TfW. This
is critical for dealing with franchise arrangements and major
projects and initiatives, and is a welcome step forward for
transport funding in Wales.
-
This medium-term funding
arrangement for transport has been advocated for regions and local
authorities for a number of years, to no avail. The current annual
round of grant funding where 22 local authorities have to prepare
bids every year to compete for funding is inefficient and creates
uncertainty. This inefficiency is further exacerbated by the fact
that funding is limited to a financial year with no flexibility to
carry forward funding.
-
Consequently;
·
Short term funding limits the
ability to deliver long term programmes.
·
Short term funding prevents LAs and
regions building and investing in core teams with capacity and
capability to develop and deliver long term programmes.
·
Longer term funding would enable
greater commitment to developing skills and investing in
apprentices, graduates and to developing specialisms and
facilitating career development and succession planning.
·
Development of project pipelines
would enable supply chain development and avoid the hiatus of work
early in the year when work is being commissioned and tenders
invited and the over-heating at the end of every financial year
when pressure is on to avoid underspending.
·
Regional Transport Plans should be
used to develop a programme of transport interventions and agreed
funding packages.
-
It has been publicly stated that
the value of the 15 year new Wales and Borders rail franchise will
be in the region of £5bn. However, in terms of transparency,
it is not known how this money will be distributed and used to
support the individual rail lines across Wales or what working
arrangements will be in place with key partners/stakeholders for
effective and successful delivery of transport improvements.
Consequently, at the present time, any analysis of subsidy per rail
passenger journey and value for money can only be done on an
aggregate basis and not at a regional or local level. Greater
financial transparency is therefore essential to understand the
value of rail against other interventions such as bus.
What action should be taken to develop these aspects of the
organisation? And what other governance models and good practice
are available?
-
The emergence of TfW has
implications for WG and LAs/RTAs.
·
Clear Roles and
Responsibilities need to be established for each party to
eliminate duplication and to focus actions by any party on the area
that can be most effectively delivered by that party. These roles
are evolving and close working through the WLGA would be beneficial
in crystallising responsibilities and accountabilities.
·
A three tier governance model is
emerging and this is further explored/expanded in the recent
Transport White Paper where Joint Transport Authorities (JTAs) are
proposed;
·
Tier 1 – Welsh Government
(funding, policy, planning and legislation)
·
Tier 2 – TfW (implements
Wales-wide commissioning of services and infrastructure, strategies
and programmes and informs WG planning and policy
development)
·
Tier 3 – JTAs (or LAs) develop
and deliver regionally prioritised programmes and services,
including commissioning bus services, managing the local highways
network and active travel, against agreed indicative
five-year
funding from Welsh Government.
-
This inevitably means there must be constant coordination between
WG,
TfW and LAs, through regular working groups.
-
Decisions about highways and
transport impact on every resident. Local authorities have
well-established systems whereby locally elected Members represent
the interests of their residents and governance arrangements ensure
that Councils discuss and agree major strategic plans and
budgets,
‘call in’ decisions and
hold the Executive to account.
-
This is good practice, and if TfW
is to become involved in delivery in ways that include work on
behalf of, or previously undertaken by the local authorities, it
will be important for them to respect such arrangements.
Accountability to local authority and / or regional politicians
will need to be considered, which may give rise to the need for
local / regional authority
involvement in the wider
commissioning decision making.
The future role of Transport for Wales in delivering transport
policy. What additional responsibilities should it take on and how
should these integrate with the role of Welsh Government, local
government and emerging regional transport authorities?
-
The recent transfer of powers from
the DfT to the Welsh Government to re-let the Wales and Borders
rail franchise has provided a new opportunity in terms of the
devolution of rail transport procurement and provision within
Wales. The aims and objectives of extending this devolution should
be the
focus of the future duties of TfW,
and needs to:
·
Ensure greater integration of rail
services with the local transport networks. In South East Wales,
this should be demonstrated through TfW's involvement in the
evolving development of the Metro, including delivery of a
single fully integrated ticketing system for all rail and bus
services in the Cardiff Capital Region.
·
Ensure transport is an integral part
of Spatial and Economic Development policies at a national,
regional and local level.
·
Provide an opportunity for greater
investment in the rail and local transport network. Again, this
should be demonstrated through the evolving development of the
Metro, the transfer of Network Rail assets on the Core Valley Lines
(CVL), the evolving development of the Metro including
(including non-CVL routes) and closer working with and through the
local highway authorities.
·
Bring a greater local focus in the
decision making process by devolving control. This must be
embedded within the governance
structure of TfW.
-
WG, through TfW, has the
opportunity to drive transformational change in public transport on
a Wales-wide level. The initial steps through the rail franchise
are promising and the opportunity for a robust strategy
for
transport integration is
emerging.
-
Transformation will not be
delivered through efficiencies that may accrue through smarter
purchasing or back-office arrangements, important though they may
be, but through significant increases in investment in public
transport.
-
TfW has the key role in providing
WG/NAW with the compelling evidence to support such investment and,
through emerging transport models, identifying the most effective
solutions to acknowledged problems.
-
It would be premature to determine
the full extent of the future role of TfW whilst the White Paper on
Transport is under consideration, as the emergence of JTAs would
provide a regional layer of capacity and capability that would be
founded on the robust tried and tested governance arrangements and
accountabilities already available at local authority level. These
will be strengthened with long term funding commitments.
-
Optimising the effectiveness of
having a Wales-wide commissioning/delivery organisation in TfW,
together with the regional presence of JTAs capable of delivery at
a regional/local level, with appropriate accountabilities and
coordination, would seem to offer many benefits over the present
situation.