I fully support Transport for the North’s Draft Strategic Transport Plan which proposes a 50% increase in funding and investment for the North of England. This is great news. I have been campaigning for more investment in transport infrastructure in the North since I entered Parliament in 2015, as the North lags woefully behind London in per capita spending.
The new investment will centre around improving connections between our towns and cities, so will certainly increase the funding opportunities for key roads such as the A64, but also features major projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail. This will better connect our Northern cities, meaning we will go from 10,000 people being able to reach four northern cities in under an hour to 1.3 million, creating a labour market equivalent to the one enjoyed by London, finally closing the huge gap in the opportunities available to people living in constituencies like Thirsk and Malton and will be a massive boost to our regional economy.
Transport for the North, which will become a statutory body later in the year, will also focus on significant road and rail improvements and on ensuring better access to our ports and airports to allow the North to fulfil its rightful role as the central focus of Britain as a trading nation. It will mean the North can focus on what it is really good at, which is advanced manufacturing, digital services, energy and health innovations. All told, Transport for the North’s vision will cost between £2bn and £2.3bn a year, working out at £150 per person a year and £50 a head more than what would otherwise have been spent. Transport for the North will now have to evaluate how the money could be spent; it is imperative that each project offers good value for money, whilst sitting within the overall transport strategy. I will do whatever I can to persuade Ministers in the Department of Transport and the Treasury to support this plan.