About

Safe transport for all

 

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) is a registered charity. It supports the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety. Its charitable objective is “To protect human life through the promotion of transport safety for the public benefit”.

Its aim is to advise and inform members of the House of Commons and of the House of Lords on air, rail and road safety issues. It brings together safety professionals and legislators to identify research-based solutions to transport safety problems having regard to cost, effectiveness, achievability and acceptability.

In recent years it has paid increasing attention to the links between transport safety, sustainability and public health.

Functions

PACTS has four functions:

  • It provides an independent technical advisory service for Parliamentarians on a wide range of transport safety matters.
  • It lobbies and persuades, identifying and promoting research-based solutions to transport safety issues through Parliamentary access and contacts.
  • It promotes wider publicity and information on safety through conferences, seminars, the annual Westminster Lecture on Transport Safety, publications and this website.
  • It responds to Government, Parliamentary and public proposals for safety improvements.

Structure

PACTS is a registered charity (No. 1068607) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 02366377). This means that the Trustees and Directors carry the overall legal and financial responsibility for the running of the organisation. The current Board comprises politicians, academics, retired public and private sector leaders and consultants.

The Board is supported by a Management & Finance Committee and a Policy & Research Committee. These committees comprise Board members, working party chairs and co-optees.

Consideration of technical matters and the development of policy are undertaken through working parties focused on different aspects of transport safety. Membership of these reflects the breadth of interest and expertise among the members of PACTS. The issues discussed are reported to the wider membership, normally three times a year at meetings in the House of Commons.

PACTS’ annual income of around £250,000 per year is derived from membership subscriptions, sponsorship, event income and research funding. It receives no funding from Parliament. PACTS financial accounts and are independently examined and submitted to the Charity Commission and Companies House. Summary accounts are also reported in PACTS’ Annual Review.

PACTS  supports and provides the secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety.

The various parts of the PACTS “family” and key officers and staff are shown in the PACTS organisational structure

Activities

PACTS normally organises two conferences every year, in Spring and Autumn, and the annual Westminster Lecture on Transport Safety, usually held in December.

PACTS recognises the importance of the European dimension in transport safety. It is a founder member of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), based in Brussels, which advises and informs the European Commission and Parliament. PACTS plays an active role in ETSC. This is unchanged by Brexit.