Yorkshire ‘the poor relation’ in transport cash gap with capital

Statistics compiled by the Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) using data compiled by the Treasury show £774 was spent per head of population in London last year, compared with £276 in Yorkshire.

The group, which represents bodies responsible for public transport in England’s metropolitan areas, also said that gap had widened, with spending on London rising as it fell elsewhere.

Coun Mick Jameson, chairman of the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, yesterday said people in Yorkshire and other metropolitan areas were being left to play the role of “poor relations” to those in the capital.

He added: “At the moment, passengers in Yorkshire are second-class citizens compared to those in London, who are enjoying first-class service.

“In the capital, public transport gets three times more Government money than it does here, an imbalance which is quite frankly unacceptable.

“An irritating example is the project to provide new rail carriages which will benefit people in London and the South-East, while we will get their old ones.

“Those carriages have a 25-year life span and are now 26 years old, but will be passed to Northern Rail to run services here. It is outrageous.

“The Government is talking about rebalancing the economy away from the city of London and back towards manufacturing and other industries.

“We would like to see a rebalancing of the investment of cash in transport from the South-East and into the northern regions to give our communities a better opportunity of developing.”

Transport Minister Norman Baker dismissed the findings and said: “It is not surprising that more money is spent in the capital it has always been that way and it is the same with capital cities around the world. I reject the idea that Yorkshire is underfunded.”

Coun Jameson said he and colleagues from the other major transport authorities had a meeting scheduled with the shadow transport Minister Maria Eagle next month.

He also challenged Transport Minister Justine Greening, who was born and brought up in Rotherham, to visit the region and see how more investment could boost prospects.

According to the PTEG report, which draws on the Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses figures for the last financial year, the funding gap has “widened significantly” between 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Investment in London rose from £721 per head to £774 over the 12-month period, while the average spend across the country’s other metropolitan areas fell from £302 to £285 per head.

The chairman of PTEG, Geoff Inskip, said: “‘We fully accept that London needs and deserves high-quality public transport. The transformation of the capital’s transport system in recent years has been a fantastic achievement.

“However, if we are going to rebalance the economy then we need the right balance on transport spending.

“Our major regional cities are economic powerhouses and a greater level of transport investment is needed in cities like Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham if we are to tackle imbalances in the national economy.

“In recent years transport spending in the capital has been on an entirely different scale when compared with the next tier of major cities.

“The Government’s support for High Speed Two, for the overhaul of the Tyne and Wear Metro, for Birmingham New Street and for the roll-out of tram networks like Manchester Metrolink, all show that the Government is supporting public transport in the cities.

“However, we need to keep up the pace on investment of that scale if the funding gap isn’t to continue to grow in a divisive and disproportionate way.”

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