30 October 2006

CSS SETS OUT ITS STRATEGY ON TOUGH ISSUES

CSS today publishes its blueprint for a better and more sustainable future across Britain.

As the professional body representing director-level strategists in local government responsible for managing and advising on some of the most challenging issues of our time, CSS (the County Surveyors’ Society) believes there are a series of tough decisions that need to be made. Its new Strategic Policy Statement suggests some solutions.

CSS is especially concerned about: the need to identify a radical new approach to the pressing transport problems created by traffic congestion and rural isolation; the management of waste in ways that will avoid massive EU fines for excessive landfilling; and the promotion of better standards of design quality in the built environment.

Transport

CSS believes a radical new vision is needed to overcome Britain’s travel headaches.

“It is clear that more of the same will not be sufficient to address the pressing problems confronting movement and accessibility over the next few decades,” says CSS President, John Deegan. “We have got to explore a range of innovative ideas to come up with a comprehensive long-term vision and then secure the necessary investment to make it happen.”

Mr Deegan is closely involved in a bold CSS initiative which involves a series of hearings at which evidence is being taken from some of the nation’s top brains on transport. Starting from the proposition that “travel is good”, the study is expected to publish its findings in the spring of 2007.

CSS is calling for a fundamental review of motoring taxation, including use-related charges on congested roads. It believes that introduction of fiscal measures to manage and regulate demand must be widely accepted by the public as a reasonable response to managing congestion and improving environment.

Complementing their drive to overcome congestion, CSS members will continue to work to develop community transport schemes as a vital contribution to maintaining the quality of rural life. Other important initiatives include continued action to reduce road casualties through engineering and behavioural education programmes, and the appropriate use of safety cameras.

Waste management

CSS members are driving the implementation of strategies designed to increase recycling and re-use, and so reduce the nation’s dependence on landfill. Authorities that fail to meet targets will face substantial fines.

CSS believes that strong national leadership is needed from the Government to promote waste minimisation, recycling and re-use, notably in the reduction of packaging and the introduction of waste-derived fuels. The potential for local waste to be used as a fuel also suggests that strategic local authorities in England should be given responsibility for energy planning; this would complement existing responsibility for minerals and waste plans.

The true cost of waste management will, says CSS, rise considerably over the next few years and should be properly provided for in funding made available to local government.  It believes a strong incentive-based steer is needed from Government to ensure that collection and disposal authorities work together.

Spatial development

CSS wants to work with the Government to shape a national framework for spatial development. It says that the Sustainable Communities Plan falls short of a comprehensive network and leaves whole swathes of the country not covered in any meaningful way. CSS is particularly concerned that the relationships between Growth Areas in the south, Core Cities and the Northern Way are not strongly drawn.

Sustainable living

Given the breadth of their expertise and responsibilities, members of CSS have an enormous amount to contribute to improvements in quality of life and a more sustainable future. It is particularly keen to engage with Government and other partners to promote improvements in the design quality of the built environment and, notably, to differentiate between roads that are primarily for vehicles and streets in which pedestrians have priority.

Efficiency and performance

CSS shares Government aspirations to improve value for money in the funding of public services. In England, it wants to work closely with Government, the Highways Agency and regional centres of excellence to ensure best practice and joint working on procurement, so achieving efficiencies and boosting performance. At the same time, CSS will continue to press for added resources to address the substantial roads maintenance backlog. It is particularly concerned about the inadequacy of revenue funding at a time when costs of maintenance and passenger transport have been rising much faster than inflation.

Future of local government

CSS is concerned that the Government often fails to recognise the key role played by the strategic tier of local government and is calling for a swift end to uncertainty over its future. It believes further protracted uncertainty about roles in two-tier areas would be damaging.

“Strategic authorities have a key part to play in shaping and delivering improvements to quality of life,” says John Deegan. “They can see the big picture and take difficult decisions.  “They also have the capacity to focus resources while retaining local flexibility and working effectively with partners at all level from parishes through to sub-regions.”

ends

Media contacts: Barrie Hedges or Vicky Walker, Daybreak Communications 0845 644 3845; mob 07899 923756; barrie.hedges@daybreakcomm.co.uk; vicky.walker@daybreakcomm.co.uk

Notes to editors:

1 CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. The expertise of CSS members and their vision is paramount in dealing with fundamental issues that affect all our lives, including transport and travel, managing waste, designing future living environments.

2 The CSS membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom. Its members are responsible for:

• providing professional services for three quarters of the road network
• two-thirds of the land area
• just under half the population of England and Wales.

3 The full CSS Strategic Policy Statement can be downloaded from the CSS website www.cssnet.org.uk

4 While the general principles of the CSS Strategic Policy Statement apply to the whole of Britain, the sections on efficiency & performance, waste management and rural planning are specific to England.