Local authorities have been urged to respond to the Traffic Management Act at a strategic level.

Richard Buckley, the Department for Transport’s traffic management chief, told delegates at HSC09 that more commitment and buy-in at strategic levels is needed.

‘It’s not necessarily the chief executives [we need to target], we need to engage with the local politicians to get more engagement at that level,’ he said.

In a panel discussion on how the TMA has affected the industry, Buckley added he was yet to see a clear example of a council utilising the range of powers afforded to them under the act in a flexible way to deliver network management commitments.

Meanwhile, NJUG chief executive Les Guest and Jerry McConkey, chair of JAG (UK), both expressed frustration at how long it was taking to implement assessment processes. However, Buckley said the process of developing this properly was proving a valuable lesson.