Borrowing capacity or owning capability?

In August 2026, the government announced that civil servants would be seconded into mayoral authorities. From this autumn, each mayoral Authority can receive between five and ten high-performing civil servants for six to nine months. Downing Street said the pilot aims to build capability and capacity and speed up the transfer of power to local areas.

Extra people can help while your Authority is taking on new transport powers. Ask what it will still be able to do when the secondees return to their departments.

Secondees will bring strong skills in areas such as programme management, policy, finance and analysis. Their understanding of central government can also help with business cases and funding.

Many secondees will not have worked on bus networks, ticketing or transport contracts. Your Authority can request the skills it needs, but the pilot does not promise transport experience.

Each placement lasts six to nine months. If a secondee spends the first weeks learning how bus services work, less time remains for work that helps your Authority. Their transport knowledge leaves with them when the placement ends. Your Authority keeps the outputs, but not the person who understands how they were produced.

Your Authority also pays for that learning in staff time. Permanent staff need to brief secondees, answer questions and check early work. That time comes out of the programme.

Training permanent staff means transport knowledge stays with your Authority after the secondees return.

The same investment of time could build transport knowledge in the people who will stay. The full Right of Way programme runs for ten facilitated days, delivered over time alongside your Authority’s live work. Each course is designed for a group of six to ten permanent staff.

Every course adds a usable output to your Authority’s toolkit. Your Authority owns that output, and your staff can use it in their work.

Here is a practical comparison:

Training and secondments can work together.

Train a core group of permanent staff first, or as early as the timetable allows. Then use secondees to add capacity around that team on work that suits their skills. Secondees can join a course where this helps them get started, but most of the training budget should go to people employed by your Authority.

If the pilot timetable does not allow training first, run training and secondments side by side. Pair each secondee with a named permanent member of staff and make knowledge transfer part of every task.

If your Authority has not chosen a delivery route, start with Courses 1, 3, 6 and 9. They apply whether your Authority franchises, forms an Enhanced Partnership or improves services under its local transport plan.

Before accepting a secondment team, ask:

We help your team build transport knowledge for its work. To discuss a programme for your team, email contact@intelligenttransportadvisory.co.uk.