Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
placed on a statutory basis. However partly because of differences in timing, the
Scottish Executive did not immediately seek to transfer the local transport planning
activities of individual authorities to the regional bodies.
Unlike England and Wales LTPs were never legislated for in Scotland. Instead
authorities were originally asked to produce a non-statutory local transport strategy
focusing on plans for the next three years, in the context of a vision for integrated
transport looking 10 or 20 years ahead linked to Development Plan time horizons
(Scottish Executive 1999).
Up-dated guidance for these strategies was issued in 2005 in the context of the
national and regional changes then in progress:
While the institutional landscape for transport is changing there will also be
continuity. Local authorities and SPT [Strathclyde Passenger Transport - the
Passenger Transport Executive for the Greater Glasgow area] will continue to
maintain transport infrastructure, plan and deliver services so there is still an
important role for local transport strategies.
(Scottish Executive 2005b para 1.15)
Nevertheless authorities were asked to take account of the strategies already
produced by the voluntary regional partnerships and SPT whilst their own work would
feed into the new statutory regional strategies.
In many respects the nature and preparation of local strategies in Scotland has
similarities with the English LTPs. They are expected to follow a systematic process of
analysis within the context of national objectives, to engage with stakeholders, link with
local development and community plans, employ performance indicators and targets
and consider the application of regulations for Strategic Environmental Assessment.
A rather stronger role is advocated in the Scottish system of appraisal (STAG) at the
strategic level (i.e. in assessing the overall package of measures proposed) and not
merely in connection with individual projects. The Guidance states that it expects a
local transport strategy to include commentary on alternative strategies considered
and why they were not chosen.
The administrative context for the production of Scottish local strategies is
however quite different. The guidance is much less prescriptive and the tone in which
it is written is more in the nature of constructive advice. There is none of the pre-
occupation with specifying 'requirements' relating to the assessment of authorities'
documents and delivery that characterised the English LTP2 guidance produced at
about the same time. This reflects a key difference between the Scottish and English
systems, namely that the Scottish strategies are not linked directly to decisions on
annual funding allocation. This in turn permits a more relaxed approach to be taken
to production of the strategies themselves:
We are aware that local authorities are at different stages in the production cycle
of local transport strategies and expect most strategies to be completed during the
course of 2005/06 although we have deliberately not set a deadline for completion
- instead enabling authorities to work to their own timescales.
(Scottish Executive 2005b para 1.17)
Likewise the approach to monitoring embodies a different balance. Authorities
are invited to determine the precise package of performance indicators and targets
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