Transport Cabinet Portfolio

Transport services have identified a number of risks and challenges, they include:

Income generated through the parking service fell significantly during the COVID lockdowns in 2020. Before COVID, legacy councils received approximately £1 million per month in parking income.

Parking income is still in the process of recovery and progress is closely monitored.

Procurement of contracts to deliver the Buckinghamshire Highways service from April 2023 is underway.

This is a significant procurement for this portfolio and the council as a whole, and mobilisation will be important particularly given the different model that the new contracts will take.

The procurement is on schedule and a detailed programme in place to manage delivery and mobilisation.

National infrastructure projects, such as HS2 and East West Rail, continue to have a very real impact in Buckinghamshire through:

• increased traffic on the network
• causing damage to the network and highways asset
• environmental impacts amongst other things

Increased officer resource has been recruited to monitor projects on the ground and engage with communities.

There is a significant programme of highway infrastructure delivery as well as maintaining the highways asset through resurfacing programmes, drainage clearance and repair and other programmes across the county.

The current high inflation levels mean that projects may need to be reprioritized, some works may need to scaled back or postponed, and additional funding may need to be sought to deliver projects

Managing the increased demand and costs for statutory home to school transport remains a challenge.

An improvement programme is in place to ensure delivery of a value for money home to school and social care transport service, within which customers receive a safe and high-quality experience.

A challenge regarding Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) is that we have received zero funding from government to deliver this.

The main challenge associated with the delivery of electric vehicle charging points is the cost of connecting those points, once installed, with the high voltage power needed and the cost of these connections.

We continue to seek bidding opportunities to help fund electric vehicle charging points across Buckinghamshire.