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Two new PTAs in Local Govt Bill

12th November 1971
Page 38
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Page 38, 12th November 1971 — Two new PTAs in Local Govt Bill
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

from our political correspondent • Further Passenger Transport Authorities are to be set up under the Local Government Bill, published last week, which provides for a wholesale reorganization of councils in England and Wales outside Greater London.

In England alone more than 900 county, county borough and district councils will be replaced by 44 new counties and about 300 new districts.

The six metropolitan counties which are to cover the provincial conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyneside (with Sunderland), South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and West Midlands (including Coventry) are to become PTAs for their areas. At present—under the Transport Act 1968—PTAs are established only in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyneside (excluding Sunderland) and West Midlands (excluding Coventry).

Elsewhere county councils will be responsible for the co-ordination of transport policies, but the 'ownership and day-to-day operation of municipal transport undertakings will be transferred to the

relevant new district councils. The division of non-metropolitan counties into districts will be proposed as soon as practicable after the passing of the Local Government Act. Accordingly, the control of district bus services will remain at local level.

Some additional municipal undertakings will be transferred to existing PTAs (metropolitan counties) due to their extension, and are as follows: Wigan into Greater Manchester (SELNEC) Southport and St. Helens into Merseyside; Sunderland into Tyneside; and Coventry into West Midlands.

The formation of two metropolitan counties in the north will also lead to the takeover of further municipal bus undertakings. Thus the proposed South Yorkshire county will absorb the Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham undertakings, while West Yorkshire will take in Bradford, Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield.

Within each non-metropolitan county the following duties are defined in Clause 195:

THE COUNTY COUNCIL—acting in consultation with bus operators within the county and, so far as appropriate, with the Railways Board, it will develop policies to promote the provision of a co-ordinated and efficient system of public passenger transport to meet the needs of the county.

For that purpose it will promote the co-ordination, amalgamation and reorganization of road passenger transport undertakings which appear to it to be desirable.

THE DISTRICT COUNCIL—each one operating a road passenger transport undertaking will do so in accordance with the policies developed by the county council.

THE BUS OPERATOR—he and the Railways Board will co-operate with one another in co-ordinating the passenger transport services within the county. They will exchange such information as to proposed changes in their services as may be "reasonably required".

Passenger transport undertakings who incur expenditure they would not otherwise have done in carrying out county policies will be reimbursed by a grant from the county council.

Any dispute between the operators and the council not determined by agreement in six months will bc referred for arbitration.

In the original White Paper proposals, counties would have been solely responsible for all highway functions. In the Bill, county councils will be the local highway authority for all highways outside Greater London, but following consultations on the White Paper, there is now provision for 'a procedure empowering district councils to maintain urban roads.

All planning applications will be made to district councils who will decide most of them. But certain matters of strategic significance will be reserved to county planning authorities to enable them to discharge their responsibility for broad planning policies.

(Local Government Bill. HMSO £2.05)


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