Lancashire County Council: Environment Directorate: Local Transport Plan

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Local Transport Plan

6.5 Targets

We have set the mandatory and local targets for either Lancashire as a whole or for specific areas based on what we believe is realistic to achieve given the level of funding and resources that are available. The target levels have been identified on the basis of making a contribution toward the national targets, the minimum acceptable targets (as set out in the Department for Transport guidance) and ‘hard targets’ that are aiming for greater improvement than the national targets (where these are locally important).

We have set local targets with our partners and stakeholders. These local targets are set according to our priorities and reflect our need to monitor our progress towards achieving our priorities. Therefore local targets link to our objectives and cover areas which the DfT mandatory targets do not cover fully. The main risks to achieving our targets and how they will be managed are also described in this chapter. Indeed we see management of risk as a priority and the foundation for our work programme.

Trajectories for each of the targets help identify areas we are over or under performing and assist us in directing resources at specific areas where more effort is required to meet targets.

6.5.1 Review of Targets

Lancashire reviews the progress that we have made against our targets on a quarterly basis and annually reports progress within our APR. These reviews will allow us to determine if we are on track to achieve targets that we have set ourselves. If we are on track, we will decide if it is possible to set ourselves a more difficult target. If we are not on track to achieve our targets, we will explain the reasons why and set ourselves an action plan detailing how we intend to get back on track to achieve the target. For example, action plans will be used to target issues such as a decrease in the number of bus passenger journeys in the area or a rise in the number of casualties resulting from road accidents, both of which could mean that we are not on track to meet some of our PIs.

Action plans to resolve these problems would look for reasons for the decline or increase, identify possible solutions and then ways to implement the solutions. We would then target these problem areas in a variety of ways including ;

working with our District Council partners
working in partnership with bus operators
increasing road safety training & publicity for local school children and target groups.

Reports on performance indicators are submitted to management and elected members on a quarterly basis. This allows a specific opportunity to comment on the overall LTP and APRs and review performance on targets and indicators. We provide them with quarterly updates on progress towards scheme delivery and their contribution to various objectives and targets. We make them aware of the status of the targets and why funding allocations have been directed to those strategies that will contribute significantly to targets that are failing or progressing slowly.

6.5.2 System of Review

Lancashire has an existing, simple and robust System of Review that has been appraised and is being amended to ensure fit with the new LTP2 monitoring regime. Lancashire operates an intranet based monitoring system, which collects mandatory, local and BVPI related indicators. The system is based on federal spreadsheets controlled by the LTP Manager and centrally linked. Areas of responsibility are clear. The federal system assigns the most appropriate officer the responsibility of particular indicators. Officers are responsible for submitting data at intervals relevant to their indicators. The submitted information is checked by their manager before being passed on to the LTP Manager. The LTP Manager reviews all submissions and is able to view the entire indicator set on the central system.

The LTP Manager reports to the Departmental Management Team on a regular basis. This provides a system of further review and performance management. The Departmental Management Team consists of all areas of Transport and Planning responsibility and has links to all local districts as well as areas of Education, Social Services etc. The Departmental Management Team questions performance and looks for areas of joint working and improvement.

At the discretion of Councillors, our performance and system of review operated in Lancashire is also open to inspection by our Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillors are regularly given updates on the performance of our indicators. This provides a further layer of review.

Figure 6.5.2 System of Review

Overview & Scrutiny

6.5.3 Baseline Data and Collection

Government guidance suggests that baseline data should relate to the year 2003/4 for all targets except BVPIs 223 (principal road condition) and 199 (casualties) unless there is a good reason for deviating from the suggested base year. We have worked closely with Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to develop consistent indicators for the three joint LTPs. Whilst it has not been possible to do this for all PIs, we are confident that where possible, the three LTPs are monitoring indicators and data in the same way. We will continue to meet to ensure consistency in reporting through our APRs. All three Councils jointly appraise transport planning performance indicators. This has been beneficial and enabled sharing of best practice.

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