Regions of the country with strong local governance are more likely to secure larger sums of transport investment, the Rail Minister Jo Johnson admitted to a Parliamentary committee on Monday.

 

Transport Select Committee member Huw Merriman asked the Minister if he thought there is a danger that regions without a mayor may get left behind because they do not have a “powerful presence” to win more of a share of funds.

 

Jo Johnson (pictured) replied: “I certainly think it is true that Combined Authorities and those areas that have elected mayors will have powerful voices and they will have an ability to put together comprehensive business cases to funders – and that may put them at an advantage.

 

“Obviously the Department for Transport will continue to look carefully at all schemes, wherever they come from in the country and will continue to offer support to local promoters regardless of whether they are within Combined Areas or have mayors or not.”

 

Earlier in the session committee chair Lilian Greenwood put it to the Minister that transport infrastructure spend per head of the population in London was £973 last year, of which railway spending was £746. Whereas in the South West of England the total spend was £277 per head of which £94 was spent on railways, she noted. “London is way above anywhere, including the North West; isn’t that a problem when it comes to fairness?”

 

The Minister replied: “When we look at transport spending we don’t look at it on a per head basis and we are guided by the business cases that come to us. We are keen to support (proposals) that are strong wherever they are in the country and we are helping regions develop strong business cases that we will be able to support.”

 

He added that Government’s support for bodies like Transport for the North and Midlands Connect is important “because it is enabling those regions to speak with a more powerful voice to Government and to pull together business cases that are more likely to be successful in bidding for public funds”.

 

Lilian Greenwood asked the Minister if he accepts that, according to the Treasury’s own analysis, London has had five times the total spending of any other region.

 

The Minister replied: “According to the Infrastructure Projects Authority, central Government transport investment is more balanced than you suggest. All regions are within 33% of the average spend per head per region, with the North West expected to receive the most spend per head between 2017 and 2021.”

 

The chair retorted: “So looking forwards, you are saying there will be a greater share going to the North West, but I’m asking you to date: do you think transport spending has been fairly distributed?”

 

Jo Johnson replied that investment is driven by the value for money of schemes that are presented to the Department.

 

Lilian Greenwood then asked: “What is your definition of fairness? Is it just what has got the strongest business case, or should there be similar levels of spending in different regions?”

 

The Minister replied that the Department is keen to support more investment in the regions where there is a strong business case for it. “We are trying to help regions develop strong business cases and recently put out guidance for a ‘rebalancing toolkit’ which helps them flush out factors that may not be captured in a classic business case and are hard to capture in a narrow monetary sense.”

 

He added that the Department is keen to help regions, local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships pull out factors that might support their case so it can take “a more rounded view” when taking a funding decision.