{{Unreferenced, date=April 2008
Local transport plans, divided into full local transport plans (LTP) and local implementation plans for transport (LIP) are an important part of
transport planning
Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. Strategic transport authorities (
county councils
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
,
unitary authorities
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...
,
passenger transport authorities
In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 2016 ...
and
London Borough
The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...
councils), are expected to prepare them as forward-looking plans covering a number of years (typically five years), and present them to the
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...
(DfT).
Different arrangements apply to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
as transport is a
devolved
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...
matter.
LTPs must:
* Outline the current baseline with regard to transport,
accessibility
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
and pollution
* Set out challenging but achievable objectives
* Set out the programme for achieving these objectives
* Outline 'bids' for funding from the DfT
Once an LTP is prepared it is submitted to the
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...
(England only); in London, the related LIP is submitted to the
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current m ...
.
The LTP is a statutory transport plan deriving from the
Transport Act 2000
The Transport Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a number of measures regarding transport in Great Britain; the first major change in the structure of the privatised railway system established under the ...
; its relative the LIP is much the same but derives from the GLA Act 1999. Both pieces of legislation were passing through the House of Commons and Lords at about the same time and sought to establish a statutory requirement for local transport plans on the basis that had been set out in the Government's White Paper ''The Future of Transport''.
The LTP and LIP is subject to a strategic environmental assessment that is undertaken in accordance with UK regulations that are based on EU regulations.
The plan is subject to public consultation, though not to an 'examination in public'. It provides the highway, local traffic, and transport authority with an opportunity to set out studies of, and make recommendations to improve, locations of trip attractors (trip destinations) and residential locations (trip origins), along with a range of demand management and public transport measures as well as supply measures, to provide for balanced use of roadspace, public transport integration and appropriate patterns and forms of development.
Although many of the first round of LTPs (2001–2006) contained little analysis and planning, being little different from bidding documents that councils had previously grown used to writing to secure central government funds, it is anticipated that the second round (2006–2011) will establish the statutory transport plan as a significant and thoughtful process that makes a thorough contribution to urban and rural planning. The name of these documents is frequently abbreviated by the local authorities to LPT2. Used to their full potential, a Council is able to set out evidence-based policy and analysis and some complementary expenditure programmes, for transport and mobility matters, along with associated environnmetal and health considerations and targets, that will assist the wider aims of
land-use planning
Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...
for sustainable development.
In the UK, a local transport plan can be used as a 'material consideration' when a local planning authority or the Secretary of State determines a planning application. Ideally, the plan should be prepared as advice to the local planning authority on highway and transport matters, in particular how these should be considered in the local context so as to meet national integrated transport targets and priorities within the context of sustainable development, such as balanced use of roadspace between public and private transport of all modes and forms. LPAs decisions must normally be taken in accordance with its own land-use or spatial plan and official planning guidance; however, something clearly laid out in a good, well justified, LTP, could provide an LPA or the Secretary of State with a sufficient material justification to decide otherwise, on a case by case basis.