London Councils was set to agree a new formula for sharing out the £170M each year for borough transport schemes based on factors such as travel demand, casualties and congestion/pollution.
The move is likely to be welcomed by boroughs alarmed at a previous proposal to simply base the size of each borough’s allocation on residential and workplace population. Barking & Dagenham and Kingston-upon-Thames attacked this as ‘simplistic’ and not reflecting performance or genuine need (Surveyor, 11 December 2008).
The new methodology, drawn up by consultants Atkins, is based on the Department for Transport’s formula for distributing funding to England’s local transport authorities outside the capital.
As Surveyor went to press, London Councils’ transport and environment committee was due to be told that the proposal, whilst ‘very complex’ had the advantage of being ‘based on need, rather than simply on scale’. A smaller borough might need more money ‘for many non-geographical reasons’.
Also, in Transport for London’s consultation on alternative options, it won the support of 16 out of 33 boroughs.
The councillors on the committee were advised to back the approach, subject to boroughs being able to see the figures used to check the data for accuracy and consistency. The formula approach would ‘result in huge savings in administrative costs’.
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