Think tank IPPR North estimates  that London will receive £4155 per person (a total of £36Bn) in planned transport infrastructure spending, compared to just £1600 per person (£24Bn) in the North. It says the average planned transport spending per person across England is £1955.

 

But the Government hit back saying the analysis was misleading, adding that the ‘North’ will receive slightly more investment per person than the ‘South’.

 

IPPR North senior research fellow Luke Raikes said: “The North has been underfunded in comparison to London for decades and our figures demonstrate that Ministers have failed to redress this imbalance. This failure will continue to hold back the North and the country until the Government acts.”

 

The group was responding to an analysis of the national infrastructure and construction pipeline by the Infrastructure & Projects Authority in December, which came up with different figures.

 

A spokesman for Government said: “It is completely misleading for IPPR North to calculate spending figures in this way. The Infrastructure & Projects Authority analysis focuses on the years for which departmental budgets have been set – 2017/18 to 2020/21 – and it covers 100% of planned DfT capital spending during those years.

 

“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.”

 

The spokesman added: “Our analysis of planned central government transport investment shows that the spending for the North will receive more investment per person (£1039) than the South (£1029).”