Regional strategies - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 301

policies in the SDS and the particular circumstances of each sector. Also in 2006 an
'early alteration' to the SDS was published which amended a limited range of policies,
notably in respect of the scale of housing provision.
The Mayor is also party to an Inter-Regional Forum which has been established
with the South-East and East of England Regional Assemblies to advise on planning
issues in the wider London region.
The transport component of the SDS is subject to public examination but the
Transport Strategy itself is not. The first strategy was published in 2001 and has been
revised on two occasions since - in 2004 (to include the western extension of the
Central London congestion charging zone) and in 2006 (to include the Transport and
Air Quality Strategy).
The nature and role of London's Transport Strategy is very different from the RTS
of the English regions. It is more fully developed and is in the nature of a strategic
investment programme. This derives from the unique institutional position of the
Mayor. His overall autonomy is similar to that of the devolved governments in Wales
and Scotland but his executive powers are more wide-ranging and bring him into
much closer contact with delivery at the local level.

1 The Mayor has discretion over the allocation of block funding received from

central government, both within transport and between transport and other
programme areas. He therefore does not have to offer 'advice' on RFA (Regional
Funding Allocation) and is not dependent on Government's response on this or
on the approval and prioritisation of individual major schemes.

2 By virtue of his directly elected position the Mayor is able to exercise sole decision-

making - the London Strategy and the prioritisation of schemes is not dependent
on a consensus being brokered between regional stakeholders and individual local
authorities represented in a Regional Assembly.

3 The Mayor has several major executive functions in the field of transport and can

therefore implement his policies directly rather than being dependent on other
agencies. He controls bus, tram and Underground services and fares in the capital
as well as 580 km of strategic roads and all of London's traffic signals. (The main
functions over which he does not have direct control are National Rail services
and sections of trunk road and motorway in Outer London.) From a funding
perspective the Mayor also has the advantage of access to the revenue streams
from bus and Underground services and from the congestion charging scheme.

4 The Mayor has much greater leverage over the activities of London Boroughs

than do the English Regional Assemblies over their constituent local highway
authorities. This is because statutorily the Boroughs act as implementation
agencies for the Mayor's Strategy and it is from the Mayor rather than the
Government that they receive grant funding for minor works programmes. The
broad policy framework provided by the Transport Strategy is supplemented by
advice on individual programme areas contained in separate guidance (20.9).

18.7 Regional Transport Strategies in Wales
Unlike England, Wales is not divided administratively into a set of regions and there
is no sub-national equivalent of the English Regional Spatial Strategies. As noted in
the previous chapter Wales has divided the country into six areas for the purpose of