Draft Legislative Programme 2007/8

LOCAL TRANSPORT BILL

The purpose of the Bill is to:

support the Government's strategy to tackle road congestion and improve public transport by ensuring local authorities have the right powers to take local action to meet local transport needs.

The main elements of the Bill are:

giving local authorities the right mix of powers to improve the quality of local bus services;
giving local authorities in our major conurbations the power to review and propose their own arrangements for local transport governance, to support more coherent planning and delivery of local transport;
updating existing legal powers so that, where local areas wish to develop proposals for local road pricing schemes, they have the freedom and flexibility to do so in a way that best meets local needs.

The Bill was published in draft for public consultation and Parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny in May 2007.

The main benefits of the Bill are:

potential for better bus services in areas that choose to take advantage of enhanced powers;
a more coherent approach to local transport in our major conurbations;
in areas that want to introduce them, local road pricing schemes that are tailored to local needs, and that are consistent and interoperable from the motorist's perspective.

The Bill would apply to:

All the Bill's provisions extend to England and Wales; certain reserved provisions also extend to Scotland. The Government will work with the Devolved Administrations on the responsibilities they have in this area.

Related Documents:

"Putting Passengers First - The Government's proposals for a modernised national framework for bus services", December 2006.
"Strengthening local delivery: The draft Local Transport Bill", Cm 7043, May 2007.

Existing Legislation in this area is:

Comments:

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