Spending watchdog the National Audit Office has called on the Department for Transport to recognise the risks of devolving more control over funding and delivery of transport services to local bodies.

The Department recently announced proposals to devolve funding for major transport schemes to new local transport bodies and is consulting on devolving bus funding and some responsibilities for rail services to local authorities. But in a report published last week the National Audit Office urged the Department to clarify who is accountable for local transport funding and how they will be held to account if something goes wrong.

The spending watchdog also asks the Department to set out how local transport data can be better used to judge value for money and to compare performance between different areas. 

National Audit Office head Amyas Morse said: “As the Department for Transport devolves more funding to a local level it needs to make sure it has the appropriate assurance over the spending. It also needs a clear plan of action establishing how it will identify and intervene in cases of operational or financial failure in transport provision.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said it welcomes the National Audit Office’s report. “We agree that in taking forward decentralisation it is important to ensure there is appropriate transparency and accountability at the right levels, to drive value for money. We are applying these principles in developing the detailed assurance framework for devolution of local major transport schemes.”

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