Institutional arrangements - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 165

Box 10.1 Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies sponsored by
the Department for Transport (select list)
Executive agencies
• Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
• Highways Agency (HA)
• Vehicle Certiication Agency (VCA)
• Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA,)
Non-departmental public bodies (* = advisory)
• British Transport Police Authority
• Passenger Focus (National representative forum for rail passengers)
• *Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT)
• *Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC)
• *Standing Committee for Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA)
• Trafic Commissioners and Deputies (a tribunal NDPB operating under quasi-
judicial rules),
transport industries, local government, pressure groups and academia. It meets
periodically and is serviced by staff from within DfT. Through sub-groups it carries
out studies into policy issues which are of contemporary significance, sometimes
sponsoring research in the process. (Its publications can be accessed at www.cfit.gov.
uk) Under the auspices of CfIT a Motorists' Forum has also been established.
From the Government's perspective the value of the Commission is not just the
advice it receives (which it could obtain privately) but the public relations credit it hopes
to derive from gaining independent 'support' for its policies or from being seen to respond
positively to informed comment. The public relations value of CfIT can be contrasted
with the work of the House of Commons Select Committee on Transport whose reports
based on the assembly of evidence submitted from a wide range of interests have a similar
role, though are somewhat less technical in nature (see http://www.parliament.gov.uk/
parliamentary_committees/transport_committee.cfm). A key difference however is
that the Select Committee is a creation of Parliament, not Government and comprises
'backbench' MPs only. It is therefore more genuinely independent and, as far as policy
recommendations are concerned, can afford to be more critical.
10.6 Local government
Much State activity is concerned with the delivery of local services. For these there is a
long tradition of delegating responsibility to local bodies. Transport is a good example.
As we saw in Part 2, local highway boards or authorities have existed for centuries;
involvement in public passenger transport and responsibility for overall local transport
planning is more recent.
Local State activity is carried on through a combination of multi-purpose elected
authorities and other public bodies which typically have responsibility for a single main
function only (e.g. police and health authorities). These other bodies have members
appointed by central government, sometimes including representatives from local