ICE submission to the Department for Transport on the Key Route Network consultation

Key points from the response:

• ICE believes local stakeholders are best placed to plan and deliver local infrastructure and to understand the unique regional circumstances, requirements and opportunities. However, across all combined authorities, there are questions about whether metro mayors have the powers, funding and governance arrangements required to deliver ambitious, place-based plans linked to key national objectives, including net-zero and levelling up.
• Additional devolved powers are most effective if supported by the right strategic frameworks. Subnational infrastructure planning could be further strengthened by evolving subnational transport bodies to become subnational infrastructure bodies, tasked with creating regional infrastructure strategies, backed up by spatial strategies.
• Granting metro mayors more powers over their Key Route Networks could also empower them to develop new revenue-generating schemes for their roads to replace the current generation of road taxes, and help address the long-term need to ensure sustainable revenue for road maintenance and upgrade.