ADEPT welcomes call for better partnerships
Members of ADEPT – the Association of Directors of Environment Economy, Planning and Transport heard from Baroness Susan Kramer about the importance of better partnerships for economic growth.
Speaking at the ADEPT AGM held today at the Institu tion of Civil Engineers in London, Baroness Kramer, the Minister of State for Transport said:
“We want to rebalance economies and transformational investment into infrastructure is one way to achieve this. But as importantly we want to work in partnership and improve those relationships.
“There are three key areas for this. We want to see better partnerships between local councils. Norfolk authorities are a great example, working together to bring better integrated bus services across multiple regions with a smart card system that means people can hop across different bus operators on a single ticket.
“Secondly, we need to see better partnerships with business and using LEPs to bring business and other stakeholders to the table. The voice of business and the creative approach brings credibility to calls for investment – it shows there is real support.
“Our final priority needs to be about better relati onships with central Government – talking to us about how we work and what we can do to make things more efficient and more effective. Ensuring that we get the best value for money, that funding goes further to community priorities is our aim. “We want to improve and achieve greater devolution of decision-making and these three strands are vital to our ambition. ADEPT memb ers have a key role to play.”
New President David Bishop said: “Baroness Kramer’s comments were indeed welcome and provided important reassurance that ADEPT members are pivotal to fostering economic growth. We have long recognised that engaging with our communities, building links to stakeholders and bus iness is a crucial part of our role.
“We are ready and prepared to work with Government ever more closely to identify creative and innovative solutions to our common issues. Our expertise within local authorities and knowledge can help overcome these constraints to our economies and help our communities thrive. “We were pleased to hear that the issue of balancing investment into new infrastructure whilst also recognising the challenge of maintaining existing assets, particularly in light of some extreme weather incidents has also been recognised.
“We look forward to seeing how Government will resp ond through the Growth Deals to address these challenges. Our remit will be to build upon the Deals in partnership as part of a longer term strategy."