Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were noted as above.

The Chair informed the Board that a letter had been sent to the Transport Minister regarding the possibility of reduced fares for passengers who would have to use the Pacer trains into 2020 and also regarding the acceleration of the upgrade to the Hope Valley line.  The Mayor reported on his recent meeting with the Transport Minister and Network Rail where Network Rail committed to writing to the Mayor with their plans for the Hope Valley line committing to share this correspondence when available.

Declarations of Interest by individual Members in relation to any item of business on the agenda.

None.

None.

None.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 August 2019 be agreed as a correct record.

A paper and presentation were received to provide the Board with an update following discussion at the LEP Board and feedback from the Thematic Boards which provided a steer on the vision, objectives and broad policy for the emerging Strategic Economic Plan.

An early draft of the Plan was provided to inform a discussion on priorities.

The Board was informed that the evidence base had been signed off by the LEP Board and was now publicly available to inform wider research.

The Board was informed of the significant engagement that had been undertaken.

Changes from previous versions of the Plan were explained, noting that the Plan focused on inclusive growth, prosperity and opportunity with more holistic targeting and a greater emphasis on relationships with other agencies.

The Board noted that the SEP looked to enhance the sustainability, inclusion and economic growth through support for the Transport Strategy’s intervention areas and would work to enhance the decision making, assessment criteria and wider impact of the interventions listed within the Plan.

The Board discussed the importance of sustainability and the need to improve air quality across the City Region and to develop a low carbon transport network, including a zero-carbon public transport network.

With regard to the bus network, the Board felt that there is significant progress still to be made.  There had been cuts to many services leaving some communities isolated and the decline in the PTE budget meant that they were unable to subsidise many non-profitable routes that had been cut by the bus operators.  There was also a need to halt the decline in bus patronage.

The Board discussed funding opportunities and other potential solutions available e.g. franchising.

Mayor Jarvis suggested inviting Clive Betts MP to the next meeting of the Board to give an update on the Bus Review.  This was agreed.

RESOLVED – That the report and presentation be noted.

A report was considered which provided an update on the progress of the Transforming Cities Fund bid and set out the process for the submission of the bid.

The Board were reminded that in September 2018, Sheffield City Region had been shortlisted for the next phase of the Transforming Cities Fund.  A draft business case was submitted to the Department for Transport by 20th June 2019, the final business case would be submitted by 28th November 2019 for consideration as part of a £1.22bn funding pool.

Formal feedback on the draft business case had been generally positive, however there were several areas for the final business case to concentrate on.  These were detailed within the report.

The feedback had been used, along with a period of co-development with DfT officials, to develop the final business case.  There had been significant input from the four local authorities and SYPTE, developing the components of the bid through a Task and Finish Group that had met regularly during the last few months.

The latest drafts of the Strategic, Commercial and Management Cases were provided as appendices to the report.

Transport Board members would receive a final draft copy for comment in advance of the Mayoral Combined Authority meeting on 18th November 2019.

RESOLVED – That the Board:

(i)            Note the update on the progress of the Transforming Cities Fund bid for the City Region.

(ii)          Confirm support for officers to proceed to finalisation of the bid document for submission to the MCA and Department for Transport, sharing the final draft with Transport Board members in advance when available.

A report was submitted which provided an overview of key findings of research into Future Mobility Services across the Sheffield City Region.

The report identified recommendations for the MCA as well as the opportunities to engage the business community through partnership procurement and collaboration.

The SCR Executive commissioned Arup to provide an overview of the drivers of change and key future mobility trends, a mapping of the work currently underway and recommendations to support the development of a work programme relating to transport technology.  A draft Executive Summary of the research and recommendations was provided as an Appendix to the report.

The draft report recommended five key moves for the SCR.  These were:

1.      Publicise the great work already underway in the future mobility space in the SCR.

2.      Create a transport data platform for the SCR.

3.      Identify and realise opportunities to test future mobility technologies.

4.      Foster an ecosystem of mobility technology companies.

5.      Review changes to the governance and regulation of SCR’s transport system to deliver future mobility solutions.

It was proposed that in the coming months an implementation plan was developed and further work undertaken to develop specific activities that could be undertaken in the short term.

The Board discussed the future of the bus, connected and autonomous vehicles and the use of drones and robots and how they related to the future mobility agenda.

The Board were informed that a review of the SCR Transport Strategy had been undertaken to understand existing transport priorities and travel demands within the region. A portrait of existing SCR Future Mobility assets and capabilities had also been developed in collaboration with stakeholders, to understand where the City Region was with regards to future mobility technologies and capabilities.  Arup had engaged with the business community to identify the existing assets and capabilities and to shape the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report was presented to provide the Board with an overview of the funding of bus services in South Yorkshire and background to the current Bus Partnership model and the alternative options provided under the Bus Services Act.

Appendix 1 to the report provided a summary of the background to the decision to pursue Bus Partnerships, the current structure, activities which were undertaken and additional opportunities offered through the Bus Services Act.

Appendix 2 provided an overview of SYPTE’s current budget, the key areas of expenditure, along with background on the principles that were used to allocate funding.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report was submitted which provided an update on the development of the SCR Transport Strategy Implementation Plan.

With regards to the Roads Implementation Plan, the Board was informed that in light of rising concerns over climate change, the declaration of climate change emergencies and continued air quality challenges, the draft Roads Implementation Plan incorporated new transport priorities which were:

·         Fix it first – focus on existing roads rather than building new ones;

·         An integrated approach – redesigning roads to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling;

·         Environmental leadership - delivering carbon emission reductions, improved air quality and biodiversity.

The report also gave an update on the Active Travel Implementation Plan and the Mass Transit Implementation Plan.

RESOLVED:  That the Board:

(i)    Note the report.

(ii)        Approve the Roads Implementation Plan priorities as detailed within the report.

The Board considered a report which concerned the submission of bids and Expressions of Interest for the Sheffield City region to the Department for Transport’s Local Highways Challenge Maintenance Fund for 2019/20 and 2020/21.

The Board noted that in July 2019 the Department for Transport (DfT) launched the Local Highways Challenge Maintenance Fund which was open to local highways authorities in England to bid for major maintenance projects that it would be difficult to fund through the usual allocations received form government.

Local highways agencies were eligible to submit one bid for up to £5m of DfT funding for 2019/20.  The DfT was also seeking expressions of interest for larger projects for 2020/21 with a minimum DfT contribution of £5m each.

The Challenge Fund totals £198m; the deadline for bids and Expressions of Interest was 31st October 2019.

For bids for the 2019/20 funding local authorities were invited to prepare a short Strategic Case and a Data Proforma to allow for appraisal of costs and benefits.  The DfT was requesting that the submissions were ranked by the Combined Authority to indicate the relative priority attached to each one.

The report contained details of three bids for 2019/2020 and one Expression of Interest for 2020/21.  The SCR Exec updated on the assessment process and confirmed that the ranked projects were as follows in order: 1st - A635 Goldthorpe Bypass Structures refurbishment (BMBC), 2nd - A6178 Sheffield Road Templeborough Reconstruction (RMBC) and 3rd - Renewal and Replacement of Structurally Deficient Flagged Footways (DMBC). 

The Expression of interest is for Highways Drainage Strategic Assets led by Doncaster and submitted also on behalf of Rotherham and Barnsley.

RESOLVED – That the Board endorse the submission of bids and Expressions of Interest to the Department of Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund.

A report was considered which presented the Board with the outcome of the Integrated Transport Block (ITB) 2019/20 review, advised of the projected year-end financial position and presented the Transport Executive Board’s recommendations for use of funding which was not expected to be spent within the financial year.

Members were informed that across the ITB programme there were eight projects where the full allocation was not expected to be spent within this financial year.  Five of these projects had identified that planned works would complete but were going to be deferred into 2020/21.  The other three projects had identified that the original planned works would no longer complete, resulting in an unused allocation which could be recovered for alternative purposes.

Details of the project with deferred completion and alternative proposals for the projects that would no longer complete were detailed within the report.

RESOLVED – That the Board agree to the proposal from the Transport Executive Board for the deferral of ITB funding for five projects and for further work to be done to develop options for the other projected unspent allocations and future business case development funding as detailed within the report.

A report was submitted to seek approval for continuation of current Sustainable Travel Access Fund (STAF) activities, utilising extended funding from DfT.

The Board were reminded that in May 2019 a paper was presented to the Transport Executive Board outlining the implications of the current STAF allocation coming to an end in March 2020.

The recommendation of May’s paper was that it was agreed that there was a need for continuation of an active travel revenue-based programme; this issue was then included in the paper on Centrally Managed Local Programmes presented to the Transport Board in July 2019.

The Board was informed that in September and October the DfT Active Travel Programme Management Office had written to advise of their plans to extend the STAF programme for a further twelve months to cover 2020-21.

The intention was to roll over the 2019/20 allocation on a pro-rata basis subject to Ministerial approval and receiving a suitably robust high-level business case.

Members noted that the current STAF award for Sheffield City Region was £2.5m per year.

Board members discussed whether it might be possible to provide comfort to staff who are employed on contracts delivering this programme potentially through underwriting the risk whilst awaiting confirmation from the Department. Steve Edwards agreed to look into this.  

The report proposed that, subject to confirmation of allocation levels and grant conditions, activities from the current STAF programme were continued for another year to the end of 2020/21.  Each individual current project allocation had been categorised as either High, Medium or Low priority for continuation and these should be supported on and incremental scale dependent on the total allocation secured.

RESOLVED:  That the Board approve the continuation of the current projects in the priority order as detailed in paragraph 2.6 of the report, subject to sufficient allocation being granted by DfT.

The Board received an update on the meeting of the Transport for the North Board meeting on 12th September 2019 and also considered minutes of recent TfN Board meetings to provide members with an overview of recent discussions and decisions.

The TransPennine rail route upgrade was discussed.  It was felt that too much emphasis was being put on 2033 onwards; there were key ‘easy wins’ that could be delivered before then.

Discussions had been had around:

•           Delays to schemes

•           Freight

•           The HS2 review

•           The desire to operate as ‘One North’

•           Smart ticketing

•           Pacer trains and

•           Network Rail

RESOLVED – That the verbal update and TfN Board minutes be noted..

The SYPTE Performance Dashboard was received to provide an update on the key areas of SPYTE activity.

The report provided updates on:

·         Bus

·         First South Yorkshire update

·         Tram

·         Rail

·         Infrastructure

·         Customer Services and

·         Finance

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Board were provided with up-to-date performance information on transport programmes delivered by the SCR Executive on behalf of the LEP and MCA.

The Board noted the performance of the:

·         Transforming Cities Fund

·         Access Fund for Sustainable Travel

·         Local Growth Fund

·         SCR Borrowing and

·         Transport Activity

The Board were informed that all were running to plan and there were no major issues.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report was submitted to provide members with an update relating to Local Growth funding.

The current profile of project approvals and the remaining pipeline was set out within the report.

Members noted that the total request for project funding was £423m.  There was a £5.1m commitment which covered the costs associated with carrying out the accountable body functions for the LGF programme.  The total spend requirement was therefore £428m.

The Board were informed that it would not be possible to approve all the projects currently seeking funding.

The LEP Board in September had considered a range of options to address the over-programming position and had agreed to three actions which were set out in the report.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

It was reported that TUI would be operating a fourth plane from Doncaster Sheffield airport from the summer of 2020 which would provide an extra 136,000 seats.

It was felt that there were gaps in rail reporting in the PTE report and that East Midlands Trains, TransPennine and Cross Country should be included in future reports.  It was agreed that this would be provided in future reports. 

It was raised that there were business community concerns over a road scheme that might prove disruptive. Officers agreed to address this point in more detail with Peter Kennan.