The transport scores resulted from an annual assessment of the County Council’s road safety, highway maintenance and public transport schemes set out in its Local Transport Plan. These scores mean that the County Council stays in the top flight of transport authorities in the country.
Last year (2004/05) alone, 563 new schemes were put in place across the county – over 150 more than the previous year (2003/04). Schemes included road safety, cycling and bus improvements and traffic management.
Councillor Matthew Lock, Lead Member for Transport & Environment, welcomed the news. "In the last two years the way we have developed our transport and travel plans has stepped up a gear and, I believe, we are providing even better services. There is no doubt we have maintained our momentum and have this year delivered a large number of road improvements.”
"The County Council will now decide how much it wishes to invest next year in new highways and local transport plan initiatives. The Government says we can now borrow up to £12m for new investment but we do not need their permission to do that!
"What is more important is whether they will help meet the repayment costs of such borrowing. Despite our success, it looks like they are not going to. As a result, we will have to look very carefully at the total cost of all new schemes to ensure they offer the best value for money both for our road and public transport users and our council tax payers.”
Notes to editors
Every year, the Local Transport Plan goes through a stringent scoring system, based on money spent, schemes carried out and how these are measured against local targets. These schemes have to meet local needs such as better roads and more travel choice, as well as government-set targets including less accidents and increased bus use.
Every County Council, or Transport Authority, must produce a Local Transport Plan. An annual progress report on the plan is then scored by transport experts at the Government Office for the South East and the Department for Transport.
The Local Transport Plan is a five year action plan for transport which in theory allows councils to gain cash support towards new schemes. Normally, the extra cash comes in the form of a contribution to the borrowing costs of new investment. However, due to the way the Government allocates general grant to councils East Sussex, and some 70 other councils, we will not receive any cash contribution from government for new borrowing costs. This means our council tax payers must bear the whole cost of borrowing in full.
Reference:
05/787/TH
Contact the press team
