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TfSE Centre of Excellence: Empowering Local Transport Authorities to Deliver

By: 

TfSE

The Government made a commitment to establish Centres of Excellence in the Levelling Up White Paper in

February 2022. This White Paper tacitly acknowledged the fact that, after twelve years of cuts, a lack of capacity and capability was holding back the delivery of improvements to local transport. Centres of Excellence were a new approach to fixing this problem. Previously, funding was spread thinly across local transport authorities, pushing up costs as all local transport authorities compete for the same, limited resource. Centres of Excellence maximise value for money, by developing tools and models, and procuring specialists at the regional level.


The TfSE Centre of Excellence is building an empowered community of local transport authorities, who are able to deliver DfT priorities and evolving demands of the transport sector, and reduce their reliance on consultancies, saving money. TfSE has developed an industry-leading Centre of Excellence. We are the only STB that has built a dedicated website for the Centre of Excellence. This website gives every local transport authority Officer a space where they can log on to access:


New to the Sector, Case Studies, Procurement, Funding, Consultations, Qualifications, Webinars, Resources, News & Blogs, Key tools, Events & Data


The platform also offers a chat forum, which brings together partners such as academics, operators, DfT, national agencies and professional institutes, to discuss challenges and opportunities.


Supporting our local transport authorities to deliver the Government’s missions:


  • EV Charging Infrastructure Locate Tool: Provide LTAs with forecasts of charge point demand

  • Carbon Assessment Playbook: A tool developed to help LTAs reduce carbon emissions

  • Bus Back Better: 11 support packages developed to help BSIP delivery, including a Regional Bus Forum

  • Training: 8 deep dives on a range of topics including business case development and modelling, attended by 250+ officers.


Why it matters...

The TfSE Centre of Excellence is a vital platform, helping to deliver the Government’s missions, and a valued

resource for LTA officers in delivering their local priorities. It does this by:


  • Enhancing the capability of local authorities to deliver impactful transport solutions, improving the lives of local residents.

  • Helping to deliver national missions on economic growth, by using public transport to unlock new housebuilding, and decarbonising the transport system, by supporting buses and the transition to EVs.

  • Ensuring the South East remains at the forefront of  innovation and excellence, helping local authorities leverage new technologies like AI.


Why STBs?

The Department for Transport commissioned STBs to create Centres of Excellence, recognising our unique place in the market. STBs already bring together Local Transport Authorities through our Board, and had already built strong regional models, in the process of developing our Transport Strategies.


Successes so far...
  • Reach: 240 Sign Ups 100% of TfSE’s local transport authorities

  • Support: 211 new uploads containing relevant, timely and useful information

  • Engagement: 1196 unique visitors between Sept-Nov

  • Resources: Our Tools and Case Studies have been accessed 308 times


For further details or to arrange a briefing, please contact Rupert.Clubb@eastsussex.gov.uk

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