MD2464 Royal Docks DLR station improvements

MD2338 approved the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Delivery Plan, which includes a section on Connectivity and the need to improve six stations in the Royal Docks (Royal Albert, Royal Victoria, Beckton Park, Gallions Reach, Pontoon Dock, and Canning Town). MD2338 delegated to the Executive Director for Housing & Land the detailed expenditure proposals relating to the investment to realise the Delivery Plan.

Under that delegation, DD2297 approved, among other things, in principle expenditure of £3.75m for design work on six stations in the Royal Docks.

However, as TfL will be procuring delivery of the design work, the funding must be provided to them as capital grant, which needs a formal decision from the Mayor under S120 of the GLA Act.
Purpose of the grant

The Royal Docks is well served by two branches of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), with services running to Beckton via Excel, and to Woolwich Arsenal via London City Airport. Alongside major TfL investment in rolling stock, the Delivery Plan identified the need to upgrade stations in the Royal Docks to improve capacity and the passenger experience. These six station projects will support the growth in demand for DLR services across the Enterprise Zone.

Delivery of the upgrades will require detailed design work and a dedicated project manager. To this end, TfL will procure the relevant consultant support in line with their usual practices. The funding that is the subject of this MD will therefore pay for:

• The detailed design of the station improvements; and
• A dedicated post for the TfL investment in the Royal Docks.

The broader objectives of the Royal Docks Delivery Plan are set out in MD2338. The expected outcome of this MD is to enable TfL to proceed with designs for the improvements at six stations in the Royal Docks to the ‘Approval in Principle’ stage. At that point further decisions will be required to proceed.

If completed, the improvements at stations will help the transport network to accommodate more comfortably the increases in passenger numbers which are expected as a result of the developments in the Enterprise Zone.

As set out in section 3 of DD2297, throughout the decision-making process relating to this proposal, due regard has been paid to the three limbs of the Public Sector Equality Duty. DD2297 notes how the projects falling within the Royal Docks Delivery Plan seek to address London’s housing shortage, which negatively affects those with certain protected characteristics. DD2297 also sets out how the Plan is aligned with the Mayor’s Equalities Framework.

The improvements to DLR stations in the Royal Docks directly supports the Enterprise Zone which is a key priority for the Mayor of London, the Mayor of Newham and the London LEAP. The improvements are part of the EZ Delivery Plan approved in June 2018.

The key risk relating to this project is the need to ensure that the upgrades to stations are done in a timely manner to support increased use as the Enterprise Zone and the wider Royal Docks grows in terms of residents, businesses and tourism.

This decision requests the approval of the Mayor for £3.75m of capital expenditure to be granted to TfL to fund the detailed design and management of Docklands Light Railway improvements set out in DD2297.

The expenditure will be funded from the Connectivity theme of the Delivery Plan set out in MD2338.

The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decision requested of the Mayor falls within the statutory power of the GLA under section 120 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act) to “pay grants towards meeting capital expenditure incurred or to be incurred by a functional body for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of that body”.

Section 120(3) of the GLA Act provides that: “A grant under this section must not be made subject to any limitation in respect of the capital expenditure which it may be applied towards meeting”.

If the Mayor is minded to approve the recommendations in respect of which a decision is sought, officers must ensure that the GLA enters into suitable arrangements with TfL to document the availability of the grant funding as a contribution towards TfL’s capital costs in the related discharge of its functions, with an output of detailed designs for the station improvements, as described in this report.

In taking the decision requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.