Active Travel England Publishes Local Authority Ratings
Active Travel England (ATE) has published its local authority ratings.
Authorities are rated on a scale of 0 to 4.
Five councils have been awarded Level 3. They are Nottingham, Leicester, West Midlands Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
On the worst rating, Level 0, are Rutland, Leicestershire, West Sussex, and Worcestershire.
North Yorkshire and York both received Level 1 ratings.
CEO’s Foreword
In his Foreword, ATE CEO Danny Williams explains that ATE has been charged with delivering the government’s objective that 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities should be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030.
Williams says that ATE’s resources will be focused on councils that have the three core ingredients needed to succeed:
- strong leadership
- ambition (or plans) and
- a track record of delivery (including requiring developers to build active travel infrastructure)
These ingredients have been tested by asking local authorities to self-assess their active travel capabilities. ATE then reviewed their plans and considered past performance data held by the DfT.
‘This highly collaborative exercise was conducted to ensure every local authority had clarity on what was needed to secure funding and Active Travel England understood which type of support was required to ensure success.’
ceo’s foreword to local authority ratings
ATE wants every authority to succeed.
‘We want every authority to succeed and to be able to access funding, so we will provide a support package that includes dedicated training, guidance and access to design support.’
ceo’s foreword to local authority ratings
Ratings are to be reviewed annually, or sooner if a local authority demonstrates its capability. ‘We will help local authorities give people a real choice to travel actively if they wish.’
Williams warns that ‘poorly considered and badly delivered schemes waste taxpayers’ money and also make it harder to introduce new schemes in future.’
ATE is working with local authorities to disseminate best practice. The rating process will be at the heart of this, and enable ATE to provide custom support. It has already guided the distribution of the Capability & Ambition Fund.
‘Working with ambitious local authorities will be at the heart of everything we do because we won’t achieve our targets without councils delivering consistently, high-quality infrastructure that people choose to use, so we will continue to work in partnership, to co-create and share best practice.’
ceo’s foreword to local authority ratings
Ratings
The ratings are:
- Level 0: no obvious leadership, no significant plans, and only lower complexity schemes delivered
- Level 1: some local leadership, with basic plans and isolated interventions that do not yet obviously form a plan for a network
- Level 2: strong local leadership, with clear plans that form the basis of an emerging network
- Level 3: very strong local leadership, comprehensive plans, and significant network in place with growing active travel use
- Level 4: established culture of active travel with increases in walking, wheeling and cycling, underpinned by a dense integrated network and highly supportive policies
No council has yet reached Level 4.
Ratings affect the amount of funding authorities can bid for. Level 0 councils are not invited to apply for funding.
ATE will inspect any infrastructure delivered to assess the quality of the work.
ATE will help local authorities to meet high standards and improve their ratings. The next assessment will be in Summer 2023.
Support
Support from ATE comes in five main forms:
- Funding for capability-building (e.g. from the Capability & Ambition Fund)
- Training, covering all areas of programme delivery
- Design Reviews – review of network plans and pipeline schemes, plus ad hoc reviews of existing schemes in development
- Action Plan Support – review of actions proposed to improve rating, with meetings and site visits, and discussions about how local challenges can be addressed
- Peer-to-Peer Support – sharing of best practice by pairing more experienced authorities with those facing similar challenges
Ratings of Local Authorities
The ATE document has the full list of ratings for the 79 local authorities.
Combined authorities seem to do well. West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester are at Level 3. The following are at Level 2:
- Cambs and Peterborough CA
- South Yorkshire CA
- Tees Valley CA
- West of England CA
- Liverpool City Region CA
- North East Joint Transport Committee
One surprise is that East Riding of Yorkshire gets a Level 2 rating. In my limited experience, they have a terrible attitude to active travel. I wonder what good things they have done?
Level 1 has been allocated to 40 local authorities.