Final LTP March 2006

The Government and Local Government Association have drawn up a set of seven agreed Shared Priorities for local government.  These are:

• Raising standards across our schools by helping all schools match the excellence of the best, sustaining improvement in primary schools, transforming secondary schools and ensuring that school workforces have sufficient capacity to raise standards
• Improving the quality of life of children, young people and families at risk by tackling child poverty, maximising the life chances of children in care or in need and strengthening protection for children at risk of abuse
• Improving the quality of life of older people by enabling them to live as independent lives as possible and avoid unnecessary periods in hospital
• Promoting healthier communities and narrowing health inequalities by targeting key local services, such as health, education, housing, crime and accident prevention, to match needs and to encourage healthier lifestyles
• Creating safer and stronger communities by working with the police and other local agencies to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, strengthen community cohesion and tackle drug abuse
• Transforming our local environment by improving the quality, cleanliness and safety of our public spaces
• Meeting local transport needs more effectively by improving bus services and other forms of local transport and by securing better access to jobs and services, particularly for those most in need
• Promoting the economic vitality of localities by supporting the business improvement, providing positive conditions for growth and employment, improving adult skills, helping the hardest-to-reach into work and extending quality and choice in the housing market

These Shared Priorities are accompanied by measurable Performance Targets which include:

• raising the standards across schools
• improving the quality of life and independence of older people
• reducing inequalities in health outcomes
• improving delivery and value for money of local services
• reducing crime and the fear of crime
• improving the accessibility, punctuality and reliability of local public transport

Many of the Shared Priorities and Performance Targets can be influenced by better travel and transport.  This LTP2 is designed to support delivery of local transport services.

Government expects LTP2s to focus on delivering a smaller set of key outcomes, reflecting the Shared Priorities:

'improving access to jobs and services, particularly for those most in need, in ways that are sustainable: improved public transport, reduced problems of congestion, pollution and safety.'

The Transport Shared Priority has, for the purposes of preparing LTP2s, been refined into four themes:

• reducing congestion
• improving accessibility
• improving air quality
• improving road safety

Achieving these will help Improve quality of life, another key objective of the Shared Priorities.  This LTP2 reflects these themes together with our Vision of promoting economic vitality.