logo
What are the transport projects being funded in the spending review?

What are the transport projects being funded in the spending review?

Public transport projects across the North and Midlands are to be backed by the Treasury as part of a £15.6 billion package for mayoral authorities.
Here the PA news agency looks at some of the schemes being funded.
– A new tram network in Leeds
Leeds is the largest city in western Europe without a mass transit system, with proposals to reinstate trams ongoing for decades.
The Leeds Supertram project first emerged in the 1980s but was dropped in 2005.
The Conservative government gave its support for Leeds to have a mass transit system in the integrated rail plan published in November 2021, to coincide with the decision to axe the planned HS2 extension to the city.
Services on a tram network are expected to launch in the mid-2030s and will link Leeds with Bradford and other areas.
– Extension of Birmingham's tram network
The West Midlands Metro will be extended from Birmingham city centre to a new sports quarter in Bordesley Green.
This will be the first phase of West Midlands mayor Richard Parker's ambition to deliver mass transit from east Birmingham to north Solihull.
– Enhancing Greater Manchester's tram network
New Metrolink stops will be opened in Bury and Oldham, and the line will be extended to Stockport.
Also, the city's public transport Bee Network will become fully electric by 2030, including through the purchase of 1,000 new electric buses.
– Extending the Tyne and Wear Metro
The tram network will be extended from Newcastle to Sunderland via Washington.
– Improvements to buses in the Liverpool City Region
New rapid bus routes will serve Liverpool John Lennon Airport and both Liverpool and Everton's football stadiums.
A third platform will be built at the station to boost capacity.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

First two Venezuelan oil cargoes by Chevron after license depart to US
First two Venezuelan oil cargoes by Chevron after license depart to US

Reuters

time30 minutes ago

  • Reuters

First two Venezuelan oil cargoes by Chevron after license depart to US

Aug 15 (Reuters) - The first two cargoes of Venezuelan oil exported by energy major Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab after it received a fresh U.S. authorization to operate in the country last month have set sail for the United States, vessel monitoring data showed on Friday. The U.S. Treasury Department granted Chevron a new license in late July allowing it to operate in the sanctioned South American country and export its oil, a policy shift from more strict rules the Trump administration had imposed earlier this year. The Chevron-chartered tankers MediterraneanVoyager and Canopus Voyager departed from Venezuelan waters on Friday carrying cargoes of Hamaca and Boscan heavy crudes to U.S. refineries, according to LSEG data and exports records from state company PDVSA. One of the vessels was heading to the U.S. West Coast, while the other was navigating to Port Arthur, Texas, with estimated date of arrival next week, the data showed. Chevron is separately negotiating the reactivation of a supply agreement with Valero Energy (VLO.N), opens new tab that could give the U.S. refiner a portion of Chevron's entitled cargoes of Venezuelan crudes, which are popular among U.S. Gulf refiners, sources have said. Chevron has said it conducts its business globally in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, as well as the U.S. sanctions frameworks. The company's chief executive, Mike Wirth, earlier this month said exports from Venezuela would resume in small volumes. Chevron exported some 252,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. in the first quarter, about 29% of the OPEC country's total.

Breakingviews - UK could tax wealth, via a degree of stealth
Breakingviews - UK could tax wealth, via a degree of stealth

Reuters

time5 hours ago

  • Reuters

Breakingviews - UK could tax wealth, via a degree of stealth

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rachel Reeves is wrestling with a huge hole in UK public finances. Britain's finance minister could fill it by squeezing the rich, but it's a dicey time to do so. Taxing the property and pension assets of a wider cohort of UK citizens looks easier. Last October's tax increases, primarily to British companies' social security contributions, aimed to plug a 22 billion pound hole left by the previous Conservative government. Since then, the economy has worsened. Miserly 0.3% second-quarter GDP growth makes it even harder to hit Reeves' self-imposed target that current spending and revenue should balance by 2029/2030. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research reckons that the deficit, excluding any buffer, could be as large as 41 billion pounds. Reeves' pledge not to raise taxes on 'working people' explains current calls, opens new tab for a levy on assets above 10 million pounds. But similar attempts, such as in France, suggest wealth taxes are complex and vulnerable to avoidance measures. While the impact of her abolition of 'non-dom' tax perks is unclear and may even be bearable, opens new tab, she is unlikely to further anger a mobile elite. In contrast, there are large reserves of UK pension and property assets that are untaxed and un-mobile. Brits currently benefit from generous perks to encourage savings for retirement. This cost the government some 52 billion pounds, opens new tab last year. Reducing the proportion of a pension that can be withdrawn free of tax would free up some 5.5 billion pounds, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in 2023. Meanwhile, some 7 trillion pounds of value is stored in British housing, Savills, opens new tab reckons, of which nearly two-thirds is held by homeowners. The zero-taxation rate on gains for property they live in costs around 30 billion pounds a year, according to the government. Taxing property more aggressively, as happens in the United States, might encourage investment in more productive areas. Reeves could also drill down on death duties. Britain's inheritance tax system is riddled with exemptions, which mean on average estates only pay 13%, rather than the headline 40%. One move would be to pare back former Chancellor George Osborne's allowance for property, which allows up to 350,000 pounds of a home to be passed down tax free, and costs the state 2 billion pounds of tax every year. The big risk is such a raid adds affluent middle-class voters to the ranks of Reeves-haters. Yet targeting them would make it politically easier for her to cut welfare spending. Especially if she does so with a degree of stealth. Follow @Unmack1, opens new tab on X

Tractor tax more likely to hit working farmers than wealthy landowners, think tank tells Reeves
Tractor tax more likely to hit working farmers than wealthy landowners, think tank tells Reeves

The Independent

time5 hours ago

  • The Independent

Tractor tax more likely to hit working farmers than wealthy landowners, think tank tells Reeves

Rachel Reeves should water down her inheritance tax raid on family farms to protect workers, according to a think tank that championed the controversial Labour policy. The Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), which has been broadly supportive of the idea of a so called 'tractor tax', warned that landowners were 'less likely to be impacted by the reform than working farmers '. The move will increase pressure on the chancellor over her plans, which critics say could sound the death knell for many family farms. The changes mean that farms valued at £1m or more will be liable for 20 per cent inheritance tax. The Treasury says that, with tax allowances, in reality only farms worth £3m would be affected – around 28 per cent of family farms. But official Defra figures appear to suggest as many as 66 per cent could be hit. Ministers have defended the changes, saying that they had to take 'difficult decisions' in the wake of what Labour says was a £22bn black hole in the public finances left by the last Tory government. However, CenTax has now said that working farmers are more likely to suffer under the policy, despite Labour's claim to protect working people. It suggested two ways the policy could be better targeted, including capping inheritance tax relief to the first £10m of a claim to allow 100 per cent relief to £2m per estate. It also suggested a 'minimum share rule', to remove inheritance tax relief for passive investors in farmland, so they cannot be used as a 'tax shelter'. Last year, minister Daniel Zeichner told MPs the government had introduced the plans to protect small fares. He said: 'Currently, small farms can find themselves facing the same levels of tax bills as much larger farms, despite having a much smaller asset. Twenty per cent of agricultural property relief is claimed by the top 2 per cent; 40 per cent is claimed by the top 7 per cent. 'That is not fair, it is not sustainable, and sadly, it has been used in some cases by wealthy landowners to avoid inheritance tax. That is why the Government has announced plans to reform agricultural property relief.' CenTax found just 20 per cent of landowner estates would be hit by the tax, compared to 25 per cent of tenant farmer estates, 45 per cent of owner-farmer estates, and 67 per cent mixed tenure estates. CenTax said: 'Landowners are less likely to be impacted by the reform than working farmers, representing 64 per cent of all farm estates but 42 per cent of impacted farm estates. Owner-farmers represent 17 per cent of all farm estates but 37 per cent of impacted farm estates.' Mo Metcalf-Fisher, from the Countryside Alliance, said: 'Labour ministers repeatedly say they want to protect genuine family farming businesses, while tackling tax avoidance, through inheritance tax changes. 'The evidence, however, points to it being these very families and their farms that will be badly impacted by the policy, as it stands. 'There is still time to listen to experts from the farming sector and rethink the policy before it's too late.' Ms Reeves is currently under pressure to find a £50bn hole in the government's finances, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store