DD2363 Local Implementation Plan approvals 2019 – Batch 2

Under Part IV of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act), the Mayor is required to prepare and publish a transport strategy (the MTS) which contains:

• His policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within Greater London;
• His proposals for discharging his duty of exercising his powers under the GLA Act for securing the provision of those transport facilities and services; and
• His proposals for providing accessible transport.

As soon as reasonably practicable after the publication of the MTS, each London borough and the City of London is required to prepare a Local Implementation Plan (LIP) which sets out their proposals for implementing the MTS in their area. The Mayor may also issue guidance as to the implementation of the MTS, known as the LIP Guidance.

On 15 March 2017 the Mayor directed Transport for London (TfL), by MD2081, to prepare a revised MTS and new LIP Guidance. Both were published by the Mayor on 21 June 2017 for consultation. Following publication of the final MTS in March 2018 the Mayor approved, by MD2258, the publication of the final LIP Guidance.

In April 2018, TfL commenced an extensive engagement programme to support borough officers in the production of their LIPs. This included running a programme of workshops and seminars, holding one-to-one meetings with officers at all boroughs and providing data, spatial analysis and sample document templates. TfL also engaged with borough officers through London Councils and sub-regional meetings.

All boroughs have a statutory duty to consult with TfL (and other statutory consultees) when preparing their LIPs. TfL set a deadline of 2 November 2018 and 29 of the 33 authorities submitted a consultation draft LIP by this deadline or soon after. Due to borough resourcing constraints and sign-off delays, some submitted later in 2018 or early in 2019. All boroughs have now met their statutory duty to consult with TfL.

Assessment of the consultation draft LIPs was carried out by TfL City Planning and Surface Transport and followed the format set out in the TfL Assessors’ Guide with reference to the MTS and the LIPs Guidance. Calibration and benchmarking sessions were held to ensure that assessments had been undertaken fairly and consistently. TfL also assessed the boroughs’ compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, as required by the LIP Guidance.

Following assessment, TfL’s Director of City Planning wrote to all boroughs outlining any amendments that were required for the LIPs to be deemed, in TfL’s opinion, consistent and adequate for the purposes of implementing the MTS. These letters also contained suggested improvements and amendments. One-to-one meetings with TfL to discuss feedback were offered to all boroughs and held as appropriate.

TfL set a deadline of 16 February 2019 for submitting final draft LIPs. As not all boroughs were able to meet this deadline due to resourcing constraints and sign-off timescales, recommendations on final draft LIPs are being brought forward in batches. The first batch of 17 final draft LIPs was approved by the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment on 8 April 2019 by DD2338.

This decision form includes a recommendation that the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment approves of a second batch of 10 final draft LIPs

Detailed summaries of each of these 10 LIPs are at Appendix A. TfL followed the same assessment, calibration and benchmarking process used during the consultation assessment phase.

The remaining six final draft LIPs are anticipated to be received in June 2019, after which time a final assessment will be undertaken and a further decision form prepared. This will be the third and final batch.

London’s boroughs are the highway authorities for 95 per cent of London’s streets. They are vital partners in achieving the aims, outcomes and targets of the MTS at a local level across London.

LIPs are the primary mechanism for implementing the overarching MTS aim of 80 per cent of all trips in London to be made by sustainable modes by 2041, for delivering Vision Zero and achieving the nine outcomes of the MTS at a local level.

The LIPs are statutory documents which set out the boroughs’ proposals for implementing the MTS at a local level. In the preparation of the draft MTS, an Equalities Impact Assessment was undertaken and included in the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) and the IIA Post-Adoption Statement. These documents, contained as an appendix to MD2236 which approved the publication of the MTS, also set out how consultation responses which raised concerns relevant to passengers with disabilities have been addressed.

The Mayor and the Greater London Authority (GLA) are required to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Section 149 requires the Mayor and the GLA (and anyone exercising powers on their behalf) to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act;
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a “protected characteristic” and people who do not share it by;

o Removing or minimising disadvantages experienced by people because of their protected characteristics;
o Meeting the needs of people with protected characteristics; and
o Encouraging people with protected characteristics to participate in public life; and

• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not.

In exercising the statutory power to approve a LIP, the decision-maker (here the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment) must have regard to the issues set out above. As noted above, the decision to approve is based on recommendations from TfL following a process of detailed assessment of the borough’s proposals. Requirement 5 of the LIP Guidance is that boroughs need to address the Public Sector Equality Duty in their LIPs. Compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty is therefore effectively a condition of the recommendation to approve. Through the consultation process, TfL pressed several boroughs to identify step-free station priorities and set more rigorous targets for improving bus stop accessibility. TfL considers that the boroughs to which this decision form relates paid due regard to the matters covered by the Public Sector Equality Duty in formulating their LIPs.

The LIP Guidance sets out statutory duties and processes which boroughs are required to consider in preparing their LIPs. This includes undertaking and submitting a Strategic Environmental Assessment. Each local authority is also required under the GLA Act to consult with a range of organisations when preparing their LIP. All LIPs have been assessed against these requirements.

There are no financial implications of this decision for the GLA.

Section 144 (1) GLA Act provides that a London borough council is to have regard to the MTS in exercising any function. Section 144(2) provides that the Mayor may issue guidance in writing about the implementation of the MTS to any council. In March 2018 the Mayor issued Guidance for Borough Officers on Developing the Third Local Implementation Plan. This is attached at Appendix B.

A LIP is a statutory document, prepared under section 145 GLA Act. It is required to set out how a London borough proposes to implement the MTS in its area. The Mayor’s publication of his MTS in March 2018 triggered the requirement under the GLA Act for boroughs to prepare a LIP and submit it for the Mayor’s approval.

Section 145(2) GLA Act provides that in preparing a LIP the borough shall consult the bodies or persons set out in subsections (2)(a) to (e).

Sections 145 (1) and (3) GLA Act provides that a LIP shall contain the following information:

• the borough’s proposals for the implementation of the MTS in its area;
• a timetable for implementing the proposals in the LIP; and
• a date by which all of the proposals contained in the LIP will be implemented.

Section 146(3) states that the Mayor must not approve a LIP unless he considers that:

• the LIP is consistent with the MTS;
• the proposals in the LIP are adequate for the purposes of the implementation of the MTS in the borough’s area; and
• the timetable for implementing the proposals and the date by which they are to be implemented are adequate for those purposes.

Section 146 (1) GLA Act requires each borough to submit its LIP to the Mayor for approval. In accordance with the scheme of delegation set out in Mayoral Decision-Making in the Greater London Authority (24 April 2017) the Mayor’s power to approve the LIPs to which this decision form relates is to be exercised by the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment, pursuant to the General Delegation to Senior Members of Staff. The section 146 power is not a Reserved Mayoral Matter and it is within the Executive Director’s area of responsibility.

In taking the decision to approve the LIPs detailed in Appendix A, the Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment is invited to have regard to the matters referred to in this decision form and the appendices to it. This includes the recommendations of TfL officers who have carried out detailed reviews of the LIPs and have been involved in discussions with borough officers to ensure that they have followed the LIP Guidance and that the LIPs meet the statutory criteria for approval.

In taking this decision, the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment is required to have regard to the matters set out in section 149 Equality Act 2010 and referred to in section 3 above. As noted above, the assessment of the final draft LIPs by TfL officers included consideration of matters set out in section 149 in the context of the LIPs, including the mitigation of any adverse impacts of the proposals on those with protected characteristics and the boroughs’ compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Following this decision and subject to it, the Deputy Mayor for Transport will write to all 10 boroughs to which this Decision relates confirming approval of their LIP.

The remaining six final draft LIPs are expected to be received in June 2019. A further decision form will be prepared once assessment of this third and final batch of LIPs has been undertaken.