New body ‘will put rocket boosters under powerhouse plans’

A NEW northern transport body will “put rocket boosters” under the Government’s plans to improve the region’s economy after years of frustratingly slow progress, Grant Shapps has claimed.

The Transport Secretary said the Northern Transport Acceleration Council would provide “direct action” to get major schemes delivered and contrasted it with existing strategic body Transport for the North (TfN), which he described as being “by definition a talking shop”.

The creation of the new body, which meets for the first time in September and will be chaired by Mr Shapps or one of his team, is said to give northern leaders a “direct line” to Ministers to speed up the delivery of projects. But it raises questions over the future of TfN, which the Government said would “transform transport across the North of England” when it was given statutory status in 2017.

Though its recommendations must be considered by government, it is reliant on the Department for Transport for funding and does not have the power to instruct other agencies on projects like the Transpennine Route Upgrade. Grant Shapps says he has created the new transport body to “put rocket boosters” under the plans to boost the region’s economy.

He says everyone is frustrated by the slow progress in making the Northern Powerhouse vision a reality and that existing body Transport for the North is a “talking shop”.

Mr Shapps said: “With Transport for the North they have been quite good at convening people together. Transport for the North has helped that to happen but also as a mechanism for trying to prioritise, what should be done and when. So Transport for the North has been fulfilling that role, what I’m doing with the Northern Council today is, if you like, direct action.”

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