Funding gap ‘indefensible’
TRANSPORT CASH INEQUALITY BLASTED
THE Government is masking a £34bn transport funding gap between London and the North East, a leading think tank has claimed.
IPPR North carried out analysis of Whitehall bosses’ national infrastructure “pipeline” report, which collates current and planned spending on big projects, and accused them of vastly under-estimating regional inequality.
According to the report, spending per person between 2016/17 and 2020/21 is £822 for the North East and £1,026 for London.
But IPPR North says the Government’s methodology is too narrow when further spending is added into the analysis – the gap grows to £855 for the North East and £4,155 for the capital.
The think tank’s figures include spending which goes beyond the 2021 time-frame specified by Whitehall officials (such as HS2), Transport for London-led investment and private sector support for public/private projects.
Its scrutiny of the Government numbers shows London gets 2.6 times more funding than the North, and only Yorkshire and the Humber have a lower per head investment rate than the North East.
The Government said it stood by its report, accused IPPR North of “misleading” and claimed transport investment per person is higher in the North than it is in the South.
The report has triggered a political backlash, with opposition figures attacking the Government’s efforts to rebalance the national economy.
Luke Raikes, senior research fellow at IPPR North, called the NorthSouth divide “indefensible”.
He said: “The North has been under-funded in comparison to London for decades, and our figures demonstrate that ministers have failed to redress this imbalance.”
Much of the difference between the two reports comes from differing views on Transport for London spending.
The Government doesn’t include it because it is now funded through fare receipts and retained business rates rather than via a direct Government grant.
IPPR North disputed this methodology, arguing spending can’t be moved off the books because the Government has done a unique deal with TfL and doubled down by saying the effect will be that London “no longer has to share the proceeds of its growth with the rest of the country”.
A Government spokesperson said: “It is completely misleading for IPPR North to calculate spending figures in this way.”
The North has been underfunded in comparison to London for decades Luke Raikes