Ministers urged to support transport in North
‘Stop disputing figures and commit to major schemes’
MINISTERS MUST finally commit to “big, transformative” transport projects in the North instead of disputing claims about the decades of under-funding for infrastructure in the region, a leading think-tank said today.
Without significant investment and new powers for Northern transport bodies similar to those enjoyed in London, “we will continue to live in a nation which is dangerously unbalanced”, according to a hard-hitting report by IPPR North.
The think-tank’s analysis shows that from 2017/18 onwards, planned transport infrastructure spending per person will be five times higher in London than in Yorkshire and the Humber, whose total of £844 is the lowest of all English regions.
This contradicts recent figures released by the Government, which said spending in the North per head would be slightly higher than in the South between 2017/18 and 2020/21.
According to IPPR North, this is misleading, as it excludes the £56.2bn of central, local, private and public spending planned for after 2021, most of which disproportionately benefits London.
It also fails to account for nearly £12bn to be spent by Transport for London following a deal agreed by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling which allows the capital to keep its own business rates to spend on transport, the report says.
It comes a week after Transport for the North (TfN), the region’s strategic transport body, set out its long-term vision, costing up to £70bn over 30 years. It will be forced to rely largely on central government funding to pay for its plans as it lacks powers to raise revenues and borrow money. IPPR North’s report said: “Unless and until central government makes significant new investments in transport priorities outside the capital and affords bodies like Transport for the North the same powers as those exercised by Transport for London, it will be impossible to repaint a different picture and we will continue to live in a nation which is dangerously unbalanced.”
Senior research fellow at IPPR North Luke Raikes said: “Instead of disputing the figures, the Government needs to invest in the big, transformative projects being developed in the North such as Northern Powerhouse Rail.
“The Government is making Transport for the North a statutory body but it must give it similar powers to Transport for London so that it can encourage business investment and borrow for its own infrastructure instead of going cap in hand to central government.”
A Government spokesman described IPPR North’s calculations as “completely misleading”. He said the existing analysis focused on 2017/2018 to 2020/21 “for good reason”.
He said: “To go beyond 2021, as IPPR North has done, will be highly unrepresentative as it will only focus on a narrow set of projects which have published long-term spending projections extending beyond this date.”
IRRESPECTIVE OF how the IPPR North or Department for Transport calculate spending figures, the conclusion is the same – infrastructure investment in Yorkshire remains woefully inadequate.
Yet, while it is fair to say that spending here has risen, the North has been shortchanged for decades and the current sums still compare unfavourably to the money being lavished on London and the South-East.
And, rather than Chris Grayling trying to invent figures of his own to mask his policy failings that are accumulating faster than the number of late-running trains, the Cabinet Minister should be giving Transport for the North the full powers that its London equivalent enjoys.
After all, Mr Grayling told The Yorkshire Post last summer that the North needed to sort out its own problems and, in subsequent months, it has become abundantly clear that the Transport Secretary is undeserving of the public’s confidence.
This mistrust was illustrated by his excruciating appearance before Parliament’s Transport Select Committee earlier this week when Mr Grayling was accused of withholding information about his decision to scrap a number of previously promised rail electrification schemes.
Challenged specifically about the Midland Mainline from London to Sheffield, committee chairwoman Lilian Greenwood said at one point: “You are asking us to take your word for it rather than provide the full business case?”
Given Mr Grayling’s candour after this crossparty committee chose to recall him because it had doubts about his evidence to an earlier session, Theresa May’s decision not to sack the Transport Secretary in the recent reshuffle is looking more misguided with each passing day.
As such, only an unprecedented financial commitment to the North will save what is left of the politician’s reputation.