Oversight and Responsibility

Economic and Financial Sustainability

The Group will meet on a quarterly basis to oversee delivery of the recommendations and actions and to shape developments in demand management as issues arise and as policy evolves. It will be serviced by the Department of Transport.

This Strategy supports measures that are economically and financially sustainable. An efficient transport network is vital to the economy. As well as social, personal and environmental costs, a poorly performing transport system, where congestion is commonplace, is proven to have a significant cost to the economy whereas the efficient movement of traffic is beneficial for industry and society alike. Access to sustainable transport modes and the optimisation of roadspace across users in favour of such modes has generally been found to have a positive impact on footfall and spend in retail outlets, particularly in urban centres. This Strategy has the potential to create a positive impact on both national and local economies.

As the policy levers and scope of this strategy extend well beyond transport and many of the recommendations are directed at business, community and voluntary sectors, it will be important to bring leadership perspectives from these sectors to the Steering Group.

To ensure that the implementation process is disability and equality proofed, having regard to obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCCPD), a consultative group will also be established to challenge and test the approach to implementation in consultation with relevant organisations including nominees from the likes of the Just Transition Commission, Disability Persons Representative Organisations (DPROs), business representatives and Local Authorities to ensure the guiding principles of the strategy remain central to implementation.

Oversight and Responsibility

This Strategy sets out several action-orientated recommendations, including the governance structures that will be established to monitor, evaluate, and measure impacts and outcomes.

Recommendations from this Strategy will be incorporated, where relevant, into further iterations of the Climate Action Plan, which will provide an additional layer of oversight and accountability at a government level.

Each recommendation in this Strategy is assigned a lead owner who will be responsible for its delivery where appropriate (see Appendix 3). However, the success of this Strategy will require continued collaboration from all involved. As recommended by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) in its 2024 Annual Review of the Transport Sector, timely delivery of actions across all aspects of the Strategy will need to be supported by a well-resourced, system wide implementation mechanism. This will require a whole of Government approach, including local government and enterprise and community/citizen buy-in to ensure delivery.

This approach is captured in Recommendation 32: Establish an oversight mechanism to monitor and evaluate the Strategy (see Chapter 10).

In that context, the National Demand Management Steering Group will be reconfigured with its membership and terms of reference refreshed as an oversight mechanism to monitor and evaluate implementation of the strategy. The Group should be a strong, advocate for change across the system as well as ensuring effective implementation of the recommendations contained in the strategy itself.