Sustainable Transport Policy (FOU

​Request

Subsequent to the adoption of the "Sustainable Transport Policy" by the States of Jersey can you please confirm what resources have been allocated to deliver this policy.

A

What budget has been approved?

B

How many people (staff or consultants) have been approved for this?

C

What budget has been allocated for these people?

D

Has the budget been altered as a result of Covid-19?

E

Have any interim reports been produced and if so where may they be accessed?

Response

A

Expenditure from the Climate Emergency Fund is agreed in the Government Plan. The latest agreed allocation can be found in the Government Plan 2021-24 summarised in the table below. Due to the disruption of COVID-19, some allocated spend was unable to take place within 2020 and so rolled over into 2021 as follows:

The Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), established by the Government in 2019, has provides £23M of additional investment to support the initial transition to lower carbon lifestyles in the coming years. This is however, not enough to tackle full decarbonisation. Investigation into potential new income streams from locally applied economic instruments will be investigated in the next term of Government (see Government Plan 2022-2026) and a long-term financing strategy will be produced. If agreed these will supplement the CEF and include sustainable transport policies as outlined in the forthcoming Carbon Neutral Roadmap which will be published in December 2020.

Sustainable Transport Policy Budget

In 2020 the £3.1M allocation for STP initiatives was agreed but due to the delay caused by the pandemic it is unlikely that this will be spent particularly when considering the rollover of unspent funds of £1.55M from 2020 to deliver the strong start initiatives.

The proposed spend allocation for delivery of the carbon neutral work including sustainable transport plan can be found in the Proposed Government Plan 2022-2026 (page 173)

Some delivery of sustainable transport initiatives to date and, going forward will also be funded through departmental revenue budgets within Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE).

B

Existing resources

The five-person Sustainability & Foresight Team within Government of Jersey’s Strategic Policy, Planning & Performance department were responsible for drafting the Sustainable Transport Policy (STP). This team was already in existence and works to support ministers to develop policy in areas including energy, environment, strategic transport and long-term sustainability.

Development of the STP was also supported by officers in IHE.

New resources

A Senior Policy Officer for Sustainable Transport was appointed following the agreement of the STP, funded from the Climate Emergency Fund.

C

New resources - For 2020 and 2021 £81,000 of the Climate Emergency Fund was allocated to the additional Senior Policy Officer for Sustainable Transport.

Existing resources - Some additional staff resource from the Sustainability & Foresight team assists with STP development and delivery as required. Additional resources have been used from existing officers employed in IHE as part of their roles and responsibilities in delivering the strong start initiatives.

D

No budgets in this area were reduced as a result of COVID-19. Some CEF funded projects were delayed in 2020, for which funding was carried forward into 2021 (see table above). Total funding available within 2021 can be calculated by combining the 2020 rollover and the 2021 original allocation from the table above.

E

Active travel update: a plan to support Islanders wellbeing by encouraging more walking and cycling was published in 2020.

An STP status update was also published in December 2020.