Changes could lose £2m (From Gazette Series)

Changes could lose £2m

CHANGES to Gloucestershire County Council's Second Local Transport Plan could mean the council loses out on more than £2 million government funding, it was claimed this week.

Cllr John Cordwell (Lib Dem, Wotton-under-Edge), former cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, has said the proposed changes would severely damage the council's credibility with the Department for Transport (DfT) and the financing of the council's transport schemes.

The plan, which has taken three years to develop, lays out the intentions of the county council between 2006 and 2011. The quality of the plan and the success in meeting its targets will influence the financial support the Government gives to the council.

As the Gazette reported last week the proposed changes, which were made by the Conservative cabinet at a meeting on Monday, would increase spending on highway maintenance by £2 million a year.

To fund the extra £2 million a year, the money would be taken from the council's integrated transport budget, given by government for small-scale transport schemes.

This week Cllr Cordwell said: "Work on the plan was carried out with many meetings over those three years and a formal consultation took place in January to March this year. There were no strong objections to the plan or the strategic direction it was taking.

"If the government deems our plan to be good, they can allow us 25 percent more to spend. But if they don't deem the plan to be good, they could take away 25 percent of this money.

"The change of direction is likely to cause the county to be financially penalised. Compared to the original plan, this could lose the county up to £2.6 million next year alone.

"A diversion of funds on this scale is likely to be deemed inappropriate, hence the likelihood of a financially penalty."

Cllr Cordwell said transport schemes would be lost as a result but councillors had not been told what they would be.

"The full detail of what is being lost is being denied to councillors. The portfolio holder has the information but has refused to release it," he said. County council spokeswoman Clare Summers said: "At its meeting on Monday July 11, the council's cabinet approved that the county's second local transport plan go before full council.

"This means that at the next council meeting on July 20 there will be an opportunity for members to debate the issues. "The plan is lengthy, complex and an enormous number of background papers has been used to compile it.

"There are rules on access to information for the public and for members. The council will ensure that it complies with those rules in making information available for inspection."

The Provisional Second Local Transport Plan will be submitted to the DfT at the end of the month. Further consultation will take place on the plan before submission to the DfT by March 2006.