This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Regional Transport Partnerships
06/10/2005
The proposed boundaries for the new regional transport partnerships (RTPs) have been confirmed today.
They are:
- Central and Tay - Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Perth and Kinross Council and Stirling Council
- Highlands and Islands of Scotland - Argyll and Bute Council (except Helensburgh and Lomond), Highland Council, Moray Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Orkney Islands Council
- North East Scotland - Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council
- Shetland - Shetland Islands Council
- South East Scotland - City of Edinburgh Council, Clackmannanshire Council, East Lothian Council, Falkirk Council, Fife Council, Midlothian Council, Scottish Borders Council and West Lothian Council
- South West Scotland - Dumfries and Galloway Council
- West of Scotland - Argyll and Bute Council (Helensburgh and Lomond only), East Ayrshire Council, East Dunbartonshire Council, East Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow City Council, Inverclyde Council, North Ayrshire Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Renfrewshire Council, South Ayrshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council
The partnerships are responsible for ensuring that everyone involved in transport planning in their region considers the case for investment and infrastructure, and guides and co-ordinates the transport planning of individual councils in the delivery of that strategy.
Transport Minister Tavish Scott also announced funding totalling £15 million has been awarded to Scotland's four voluntary regional transport partnerships, Strathclyde Passenger Transport, Dundee City Council and Angus Council to improve public transport.
He said:
"Having reflected on all views put to me by local authorities and others from across Scotland, I believe the RTP boundaries announced today give the most balanced strategic transport groupings to meet the needs of each individual area.
"The regional transport partnerships and Strathclyde Passenger Transport have a proven track record in planning and delivering improved transport infrastructure and services. The investment announced today will allow them to continue to deliver improvements on the ground and tackle transport problems on a regional scale."
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, which received Royal Assent on August 5 requires the establishment of new statutory regional transport partnerships.
Regional transport partnerships will take on their full powers in April 2006 and will improve regional transport through:
- Provision of a more strategic approach to planning and delivery
- Building on existing joint working relationships
- Working in partnership with the new national transport agency
- Bringing together local authorities and principal stakeholders
Their primary statutory duty will be to draw up a transport strategy for their region. The objective of capital funding from the Scottish Executive is to support the delivery of these strategies.
Funding allocations for 2005-06 are:
NESTRANS (North-east Scotland) - £1.293 million
HITRANS (Highlands and Islands) - £1.287 million
SESTRAN (South-east Scotland) - £4.913 million
WESTRANS/Strathclyde Passenger Transport (West of Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway) - £6.764 million
Dundee City Council - £424,00
Angus Council - £319,000
Some of this year's funding will be available to carry out the necessary preparatory work to support the delivery of regional transport strategies.
The Scottish Budget includes annual capital funding of £35 million in 2006-07 and 2007-08 for regional transport partnerships and will be allocated later this year.