Let’s move on transport
POWERHOUSE MINISTER SAYS IMPROVEMENTS ARE VITAL TO REGION’S FUTURE
THERE is “a big problem” with transport in the North, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry has admitted.
But he said the Government knew that improvements were needed, and was putting “more money than any time in history” into the region.
And Mr Berry backed plans for an ambitious new rail network, to be called Northern Powerhouse rail, which could begin construction in 2024. He said: “I think it is absolutely totemic for the future economic growth across the North of England.”
Transport for the North, a regional transport body overseen by mayors and council leaders, is to submit a business case for the network to the Department for Transport within weeks.
It will include a new line across the Pennines between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford. Another new line will connect Liverpool with the HS2 high speed network, south of Manchester Airport.
And there will be major upgrades to existing rail lines Sheffield and Manchester, and between Leeds and Newcastle.
It’s part of a 30-year plan to improve transport in the North of England at a cost of £60 billion, and it remains to be seen whether the Government will agree to fund the new network.
But Mr Berry pointed out that last year’s Conservative election manifesto included a promise to build it.
Mr Berry said: “I am absolutely committed to working with colleagues across government to ensure we deliver on our manifesto commitment to build Northern powerhouse Rail. What I would say to people living in the North of England, to people like me who have lived and worked in the North of England for our entire lives, is problems with the transport system are nothing new.
“I went to school in Liverpool on Pacer trains. I just didn’t know some 35 years later that people would still be going to school on them.”
He added: “We have acknowledged there is a big problem with transport in the North. We have acknowledged that it is a clog, potentially, on future economic growth. And that’s why we set up Transport for the North. That is about taking those planning powers away from civil servants in Whitehall and returning them back to people in the North, and saying come up with a 30-year, long-term plan to improve our transport infrastructure, so we can have the transport infrastructure we need to grow our economy.”
He insisted that the Government was already providing funding, and pointed out that £330m had been available for new vehicles on the Tyne and Wear Metro as well as £780m to improve the East Coast Main Line.
The Government had also provided more than £200m for Northern Powerhouse Rail even though the scheme has not yet been approved, Mr Berry said. This money will be used to ensure the HS2 high speed line, which runs between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, can connect to Northern Powerhouse Rail once it’s built.
“We are investing £13bn in northern transport infrastructure. It is more money than any time in history. But it is an acknowledgment that we have fallen too far behind in the North of England. And we need that government commitment to spend in the North, to bring us up where we should be.”
Mr Berry was speaking after the Government authorised the first payment of £20m to the new North of Tyne Combined Authority. This regional council will eventually receive £600m over 30 years as part of a devolution deal, and will also be eligible to bid for cash for specific projects such as transport schemes or help for schools.
North Tyneside Mayor Norma Redfearn has been appointed the authority’s interim mayor, and an election for a mayor will be held next year.
Mr Berry said: “I congratulate Norma Redfearn on her appointment as interim mayor for the North of Tyne authority.
“I have often set out an ambition to have more women represented in our mayoral cohort and I think this is great progress.”
He said he would not make any prediction about who would win the mayoral election in 2019.
Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside have joined the new mayor-led authority, but Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham have chosen to stay out of it.
Mr Berry said he hoped those authorities would consider joining or creating a mayor-led combined authority in the future.
“I’m very disappointed that we didn’t manage to complete that larger devolution deal for the North East.
“But I’m hopeful, in a locally determined way, if the boroughs north of the Tyne are able to prove the success of this devolution deal – and I think it will bring success – that over time other areas may choose to join this existing deal, or come and have a conversation with government about another deal they may wish to enter into.
“But it’s clear that mayoral combined authorities, with that single, accountable, electable individual, are drawing more money and more power down from government than other areas.”
We need that government commitment to spend in the North , to bring us up where we should be