Northern transport body loses dozens of workers after Government 'power grab'

Transport for the North said it has lost 41 employees - around 30 per cent of its workforce - so far as they are now working for or providing a “dedicated service” to the Department for Transport.

But the organisation, which is run by North mayors and council leaders, also said Government funding cuts are “likely to result in redundancies” and it began offering employees the chance to take voluntary redundancy earlier this week.

It comes after the Government was accused of a “power grab” in November, when it refused to adopt Transport for the North’s plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail and took charge of the project.

Whitehall then reduced the amount of funding given to Transport for the North to support work on the project by almost £75m and gave it an advisory “co-sponsorship” role.

The organisation also applied for £10m of core funding – the amount it received in 2020/21 – but will only be given £6.5m.

In a report published ahead of a board meeting next week, Transport for the North said its core funding was cut by 40 per cent in January 2021 and it used £2.5m of reserves to soften the blow.

But it said the “full impact” of the funding cuts will "flow through into the organisation and require a material reduction in activity and expenditure” over the next year.

The board will be asked to approve an overall budget of £14.68m, which includes £5.66m to provide analytical support for the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, for 2022/23.

It comes after Councillor Sean Chaytor told Transport for the North’s scrutiny committee earlier this month that the organisation had become "a hollowed-out shell" that can “deliver next to nothing” after the Government slashed its funding,

He added: “Welcome to the RMS Titanic, where we are merely shuffling the deck chairs before it goes under. There’s no money to deliver anything, let’s be totally up front.

“Transport for the North is a joke.”

When the Government published its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) in November, it promised £17.2bn for a 40-mile high-speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Marsden in Yorkshire.

It also opted to upgrade and electrify the existing Transpennine Main Line as part of a £5.4bn project, but refused to build new lines between Leeds and Liverpool, which Transport for the North had been calling for.