Authorities warned not to ‘rip up’ plans

06 February 2008

The Government has claimed that there is ‘no excuse’ for authorities to ‘rip up’ local transport plans, following claims that it has not provided the revenue to pay for supported borrowing.

Rosie Winterton, minister for local and regional transport, denied that southern England counties designated as ‘floor authorities’ for the purpose of local government grant distribution would have to pay for debt repayments on LTP allocations themselves.

In a letter to Surveyor magazine, which reported the story last week (click here to read), Winterton said the claims were ‘hugely inaccurate’.

She wrote: ‘Supported borrowing is a long-established part of the transport settlement and floor authorities do receive that support. They receive their full formula grant – including support for capital borrowing – plus an additional amount to bring them up to the floor.

‘There can be no excuse for an authority to “rip up its transport plan” as more funding is being provided as direct grant now than when the current transport plans were drafted.’

For the 10 county councils making the claims, including Hampshire, West Sussex, and Hertfordshire, Winterton said that £107M out of a total £652M will be paid as capital grant over the next three years. This compared to £656M provided for the last three, she said, ‘with all of that as supported borrowing’. Ultimately, authorities could, in any event, ‘decide how best to invest in local roads and local transport,’ she added.

However, Cllr Henry Smith, West Sussex council leader, and chairman of the South East County Leaders, representing authorities in the region, claimed that Winterton ‘cannot explain away the facts’.

Smith said: ‘If we “receive” £5M supported borrowing, our formula grant for 2008/09 is £96M. ‘If we “receive” £10M in so-called supported borrowing our grant is still £96M.

‘This Government has come up with the oddest concept of “receiving” I have ever come across.’

Alison Quant, Hampshire environment director, said that since the change in the local government funding formula last year, ‘we don’t get the borrowing support any more, as we did before 2007/08’.

Trevor Mose, Hertfordshire local transport plan leader, said: ‘The minister is clear: the 10 authorities will get £107M as direct grant.’ ‘We will explain to the public why their roads are breaking up and why we’re cutting investment in wider travel choices.’

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Authorities warned not to ‘rip up’ plans

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