Agenda for MCA - Transport and the Environment Board on Thursday, 2nd September, 2021, 10.30 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Apologies

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

Apologies were noted as above.

2.

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

Minutes:

Members declared interests in respect of item 10 regarding schemes in their own council areas.

3.

Urgent items / Announcements

Minutes:

None.

4.

Public Questions of Key Decisions

Minutes:

The following public question had been received:

 

“Will you create a forum now so that bus users can feed into the development of the Bus Service Improvement Plan as required by the Government?  In addition to the group specified  (bus user groups, representatives of disabled people and local business groups) will it also include other interested parties e.g. unions, women’s safety groups, representatives of older people, Better Buses for South Yorkshire and environment campaign groups.

 

If the MCA is required to sign off the BSIP will an extraordinary meeting be called in the last week of October?

 

The Chair commented that a written response to the question would be provided, with a draft being circulated to the Board for comments.

5.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 249 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 14th June 2021 be agreed as a true record.

6.

Active Travel Capital Fund - verbal

Verbal Update

Minutes:

P Zanzottera reported that Government feedback on the Active Travel fund bid had not yet been received.

 

He thanked members and constituent authorities for all their hard work to bring the bid together at pace, and also thanked the Chairs for signing the bid off in a timely manner.

 

A bid for £11.5m was submitted and alongside two Expressions of Interest.  One for a mini-Holland in Sheffield and the other for a social prescribing pilot across the whole of the region.

 

The bid had been published on the old website which had recently been replaced by a new website.  A new link would be circulated when the document was available on the new website.

 

The Chair thanked P Zanzottera for the update.

7.

Bus Service Improvement Plan pdf icon PDF 185 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was considered which provided an update on the work package one (WP1) outputs that would be used to develop the initial SCR MCA Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) submission in October 2021.

                 

The Board noted that WP1, the Route, Quality and Environmental Analysis Workstreams, would provide the evidence and information required for the BSIP, as shown in Appendix B, showing how the starting point for the work to reform the bus network was the Bus Review that was published in 2020.  From the strategic level evidence gathered so far, there were areas where further work could be undertaken in detail to support the development of the initial BSIP.  The evidence had also highlighted the impact the pandemic has had on bus patronage, which raised questions about how to structure the initial BSIP in response.  A summary of progress across the three workstreams in WP1 was provided in the report along with questions for the Board to consider, to shape the next stages of work and to identify the preferred approach to the initial BSIP.

 

The Board discussed the issues at length, including:

 

  • Progress towards a zero carbon bus fleet – it was agreed that figures including retro-fitted buses would be circulated to provide a more accurate picture of progress to date.
  • The  need for more granular detail – it was noted that this would be available at the end of next week and would be shared with local authorities, bus operators and key stakeholders.
  • The practicalities of multi-modal travel and how to overcome challenges to achieving this.
  • The importance of increasing patronage quickly to pre-pandemic levels and having the ambition to increase patronage further over the medium term.
  • The need to focus on patronage– S Edwards would bring a paper to the next meeting regarding levels of patronage and measures being taken to increase patronage.
  • As timescales were tight, the need to share data as soon as available on a rolling basis.
  • The challenge of securing long term revenue funding.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board agree that Option 1, as detailed in Section 3.1 of the report, was the preferred approach to the initial Bus Service Improvement Plan but also noting the importance of not losing sight of longer term ambitions and goals.

8.

DfT - Decarbonising Transport Review pdf icon PDF 278 KB

Minutes:

A report was submitted which considered the implications of the DfT Decarbonisation strategy on the investment programmes for the region and how it interacted with and influenced the MCA’s transport and Net Zero strategies.

 

The Board was informed that the government had published its transport decarbonisation plan:  ‘Decarbonising transport: a better greener Britain’ on 14th July 2021.

 

It was noted that the Plan:                                                                      

 

  • Contained a number of commitments related to encouraging modal shift and increasing car occupancy.
  • Contained a range of commitments to invest in, support the development of, or consult on a range of interventions across the sector which were summarised within the report.
  • Acknowledged the major reduction in tax revenues that would result in a shift to electric vehicles, it did not contain any proposed solutions or the need for road user charging.
  • Acknowledged whole life carbon but this was not accounted for within the plan’s Projections.
  • Confirmed that that existing approach to carbon valuation was under review.
  • Confirmed that the government had identified Local Transport Plans as the mechanism for delivering quantifiable reductions in transport emissions at a place-based level and funding would be conditional on that.
  • Recognised the challenge of modal shift in rural areas.

 

The Board noted that the requirement to comply with the Plan was referenced within the guidance document for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

 

RESOLVED: - That the report be noted.

9.

Concessionary Travel Covid-19 Recovery Strategy

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was exempt by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

A report was submitted which set out details of the DfT’s consultation and call for evidence on the future approach to concessionary travel and reimbursement.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board:

 

i)          Support the ongoing preparation of a response to the DfT consultation.

 

ii)         Delegate the final response to the DfT consultation to SYPTE officers who would, in due course, provide a copy of the submission to a future Board meeting.

10.

Programme Approvals pdf icon PDF 229 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was submitted which sought approval to progress two Full Business Cases (FBC)to full approval and award of grant, progression of five Outline Business Cases (OBC) to FBC and the release of development funding, and the progression of one OBC  to FBC subject to funding becoming available.

 

The report also provided an update on the TCF2 programme and its interdependency to the new City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding stream.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board approve:

 

i)          Progression of T8/2 Magna Tinsley (OBC) to MCA for approval to proceed to FBC and the release of up to £845k business case development cost funding from TCF2 to Sheffield City Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix A to the report.

 

ii)         Progression of T28 Unity (OBC) to MCA for approval to proceed to FBC and release up to £50k business case development cost funding from TCF2 to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix B to the report.

 

iii)        Progression of T34 River Dearne (OBC) to proceed to FBC subject to funding becoming available and the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix C to the report.

 

iv)        Progression of T23 Nether Edge Wedge (OBC) to MCA for approval to proceed to FBC and release up to £1.38m business development cost funding from TCF” to Sheffield City Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix D to the report.

 

v)         Progression of T18 iPort Bridge (FBC) to MCA for full approval of award of £5.45m from TCF2 to South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix E to the report.

 

vi)        Progression of t16 Stations Access Package (FBC) to MCA for full approval of award of £6.17m from TCF2 to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix E to the report.

 

vii)       Progression of O47 Broom road Cycleways (BC) to MCA for approval to proceed to FBC and release up to £211k business case development cost funding from ATF2 to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix G to the report.

 

viii)      Progression of O46 Warmsworth to Conisborough Cycle Superhighway (OBC) to proceed to FBC and release of up to £80k business case development costs funding from ATF2 to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary at Appendix H to the report.

 

ix)        Delegated authority to be given to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Section 73 and Monitoring Officer to enter into legal agreements for the points covered above.

11.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

The Board conveyed congratulations to South Yorkshire’s Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey who, after winning her third gold medal at the Paralympics in Tokyo, had become Britain’s most successful Paralympian with a total of 17 medals.

 

P Zanzottera would pass on the Board’s congratulations to Dame Sarah.