Billions announced for rail transport in England announced... but Wales waits
Billions announced for rail transport in England announced... but Wales waits
An announcement will be made today for England, but questions still remain about what - if anything - Wales will get
Chancellor Rachel Reeves
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images )
England will get billions of pounds to invest in transport infrastructure, the chancellor will announce today. It will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West of England.
The announcement (June 4) comes ahead of the spending review which will be announced next week, which will determine how much money each Whitehall department gets over the next three to four years.
It is hoped that there will be a significant announcement of extra cash for rail transport in Wales as part of that announcement but as yet there has been no official confirmation. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
While there have been suggestions that billions could come to Wales, Labour sources here have dampened those hopes, but there is optimism there will be funding for new stations in south Wales. You can read our full story on that here.
The chancellor's announcement comes as Labour is under pressure - both from voters and its own MPs, after a series of unpopular choices including disability and benefit cuts.
Crucially, the announcement for England signals a move away from the restrictive Treasury rules on public investment that have seen many Welsh projects rejected. Until now, the Treasury has used a strict criteria for investment which rewards projects based on the expected value for money of the project.
Article continues below
Known as the Green Book rules, it has meant projects in the densely-populated South East of England have been favoured as they can show a greater return on investment - while projects in Wales and the north of England have struggled to attract investment.
Greater Manchester will get £2.5bn to extend its tram network to Stockport and add stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham, and the West Midlands will receive £2.4bn to extend services from Birmingham city centre to the new sports quarter.
There will also be £2.1bn to start building the West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme by 2028, and build new bus stations in Bradford and Wakefield.
Six more metro mayors will receive transport investments:
£1.5bn for South Yorkshire to renew the tram network as well as bus services across Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027
£1.6bn for Liverpool city region with faster connections to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Everton stadium and Anfield, and a new bus fleet in St Helens and the Wirral next year
£1.8bn for the North East to extend the Newcastle to Sunderland Metro via Washington
£800m for West of England to improve rail infrastructure, provide more frequent trains between the Brabazon industrial estate in Bristol and the city centre, and develop mass transit between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset
£1bn for Tees Valley including a £60m platform extension programme for Middlesbrough station
£2bn for the East Midlands to improve road, rail and bus connections between Derby and Nottingham.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the announcement "marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands - opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life".
Article continues below
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
29 minutes ago
- Sky News
Wales's first minister hails spending review as 'big win' - but opposition call it an 'insult'
The Chancellor has pledged £445m for rail improvements in Wales over the next 10 years - but opposition parties have branded the investment an "insult" to the people of Wales. While the government says the majority of that money will be spent in the next three years, the average investment of £45m per year has been dubbed "shameful" by the Senedd 's largest opposition party. In total, Wales is set to receive £5bn extra in revenue and capital funding over the next three years. Among those pledges are £118m to secure the safety of South Wales's coal tips and £80m for port infrastructure at Port Talbot, which last year saw the closure of the blast furnaces at the town's steelworks. The rail funding comes after a row about the re-classification of a rail line between Oxford and Cambridge to an England-and-Wales project. That debate followed a similar one over high-speed rail project HS2, linking London and Birmingham. HS2 was classed as an England-and-Wales project by the Conservative government. If a project is classed as England-only, under an agreement called the Barnett Formula, Wales's devolved government gets a population-based share of funding, alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland. But England-and-Wales projects are considered to benefit both nations, so the Welsh government gets no extra cash from them. Labour argues the cash boost is a result of the two governments, in Westminster and Cardiff, working together to deliver for Wales. A Treasury source said Wales will "thrive" under the Labour Westminster government, and that the chancellor's package "has the potential to be truly transformative". Wales's first minister has described the spending review as a "big win" for Wales. Speaking to Sky News, Eluned Morgan said the announcements in the review were "great news" for Wales and represented the "biggest uplift we've had for a long time". "[The UK government knows] that we've been under-funded for a long time and today they've started to correct that injustice," she said. "We know that the amount that's been announced today is over and above what we would have had, had we had fairness when it comes to HS2." But opposition parties say the funding isn't enough, and claim that Wales is owed more. Ben Lake, Plaid Cymru's Treasury spokesperson, said the Chancellor's statement was "more smoke and mirrors" and accused the government of "shifting the goalposts on Welsh funding". Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar said the rail spending announcement was "an insult to the people of Wales". The Welsh Liberal Democrats' Westminster spokesperson, David Chadwick, said the funding "falls far short of the billions owed to Wales over recent years" and called for the full devolution of rail to Wales. A Reform UK spokesperson said the rail investment was "little more than a token" and did not "come close to addressing the decades of underinvestment our communities have endured".
Scottish Sun
29 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
SNP warned not to ‘squander' £9.1bn boost after Chancellor Rachel Reeves unleashed £300bn UK-wide splurge
LABOUR challenged the SNP not to 'squander' a £9.1billion boost to Holyrood's coffers after the Chancellor turned on the taps at her spending review. Rachel Reeves unveiled a £300billion UK-wide splurge in a bid to appease voters after her party's rocky first year in power. 2 Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar labelled the extra money as 'game-changing' 2 Finance Secretary Shona Robison claimed that if Ms Reeves was being fair, she'd have sent an extra £1bn a year to Holyrood Announcing her long-term spending plans for the years from 2026, she confirmed major investment in defence and nuclear power plus a three per cent above-inflation increase to NHS spending down south. Ms Reeves admitted 'too many people in too many parts of our country' were yet to feel the benefits of the 'change' they voted for when Labour swept back into power last July. The knock-on effect of the Chancellor's funding pledges means a massive cash boost for the Scottish Government to spend as it sees fit. Nats ministers will get an average annual boost of £2.4billion on day-to-day spending and £400million for major projects in the years to 2029. That's on top of the £4billion-plus yearly bonus delivered last October from the first Budget of Sir Keir Starmer's government. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar labelled the extra money as 'game-changing'. He said: 'These plans will bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland — on top of the record Budget settlement. 'But the massive increase in funds must not be squandered by the SNP government, which has a track record of waste and failure.' Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said voters would face a clear choice at next May's Holyrood election. He said: 'It's either a third decade of the SNP, who've squandered their opportunity over the last 18 years and squandered the £4.9billion extra the UK Government gave earlier. Top 5 takeaways from Spending review 'Or a government that's committed to investing in public services and infrastructure, renewing Scotland and working with a UK Labour government to deliver jobs right across the country.' But experts warned the extra cash could be swallowed by Scottish Government pledges such as pay hikes for public sector workers and higher devolved benefits. FUEL AID HOPE NATS' Finance Secretary indicated the SNP might dish out more cash to pensioners after Labour's winter fuel payment U-turn. But Shona Robison refused to commit to passing on all of an estimated extra £120million from Westminster to struggling Scots OAPs. Labour has now said older people down south with an income below £35,000 will receive the handouts, following an outcry when they were axed. Experts reckon the extra funds now due to Holyrood will be enough to cover £100 payments Nats have already pledged to pensioners. Asked if the payments could be increased, Ms Robison said: 'There's other things we need to fund as well which is why we're looking at the options. We'll deliver the best deal for pensioners.' Nats ministers are already set to spend £2billion more on welfare by the end of the decade than they receive from Westminster. But SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison claimed that if Ms Reeves was being fair, she'd have sent an extra £1billion a year to Holyrood. She said: 'This review is business as usual from the UK Government, which is yet again treating Scotland as an afterthought and failing to provide the funding we need. 'Had our resource funding for day-to-day priorities grown in line with the UK Government's overall spending, we'd have £1.1billion more to spend on our priorities over the next three years. In effect, Scotland has been short-changed by more than a billion pounds.' But despite the extra cash, an expert warned SNP policy decisions mean tax rises or spending cuts may be needed to balance Scotland's books by 2027/28. David Phillips, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the winner of next year's election 'will face tough choices' due to increased NHS, benefits, and public sector pay costs. Earlier, Ms Reeves told the Commons her plans were the start of Labour's project to 'renew Britain'. She vowed to back the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. But official documents raised questions about how the scheme, to store gas emissions under the North Sea, would be funded. NUCLEAR SWIPE AT FM & CO RACHEL Reeves slammed the SNP's opposition to arms factories and nuclear power as she confirmed defence spending hikes. The Chancellor announced an £11billion boost for the armed forces plus a £600million increase for security and intelligence agencies. She also confirmed a £250million redevelopment of the Faslane base on the Clyde, where new nuclear submarines will be stationed. It means defence spending will be upped to 2.6 per cent of GDP by April 2027. Ms Reeves blasted Nats' opposition to nuclear weapons and munitions. She said: 'Investment in Scotland, jobs in Scotland, defence for the United Kingdom, opposed by the Scottish National Party, delivered by this Labour Government.' Sir Keir Starmer previously set out the UK Government's Strategic Defence Review in a speech in Glasgow last week. Nats and Labour clashed as the No10 chief claimed Nats' goal of scrapping Trident nuclear missiles would make Scotland less safe. Sir Keir said: 'Imagine the effect that would have on the safety and security of the UK and of Scotland.' They concluded: 'A final investment decision will be taken later.' Scottish Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy warned UK taxes will probably have to rise at the Budget this autumn. He said: 'This spend-now-tax-later statement will offer no comfort to those betrayed by the first year of a disastrous Labour Government. 'Taxes remain sky-high and the Chancellor will almost certainly have to hike them further to pay for her spending plans, breaking yet another of her promises.' Mr Hoy added: 'Scots are saddled with two failing, high-tax, left-wing governments — one at Westminster and the other at Holyrood.'
ITV News
33 minutes ago
- ITV News
Treasury technicalities plus party politics bring more attention for the North East
The Chancellor's big ticket items for the North East came early - which is somewhere between encouraging and disconcerting when we're talking about public transport projects. Around £2.8 billion from the Spending Review was announced last Wednesday for infrastructure in our region, including extending the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington. By comparison, Rachel Reeves' big speech today was a bit of an anticlimax. In the small print afterwards, we found that areas of Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Stockton that 'have been too easily left behind' are to receive up to £20m over the next decade for things like improving parks and tackling graffiti. The government are calling them 'trailblazer neighbourhoods', which sounds a bit like a spoof initiative from The Thick Of It, and a lot like the Conservative governments' various funding pots for local regeneration schemes. The Tories talked a lot about what they called 'levelling up', with mixed results. Labour have talked less about tackling regional inequalities, but have made a technical tweak that might make a big difference. They've revised the Treasury's 'Green Book', used to judge value-for-money for investment. London and the South East normally deliver bigger bang for your buck, so have often been prioritised for new infrastructure. The government says: no more, wider impacts will be considered, so regions like ours will be able to compete. Despite some government departments having their budgets squeezed when it comes to day-to-day spending, there is money around for investment due to another tweak to government rules, around borrowing. Rachel Reeves made a passing promise today to set out the government's plans for 'Northern Powerhouse Rail' in the coming weeks. Campaigners say it should mean a high speed rail line from Liverpool to Hull, and up to the North East. It's hard not to be sceptical, given it's been talked about in many forms over many years. The Chancellor spoke quite a bit today about the government being focused on ensuring there's economic growth, and people have opportunity, in every part of the country. She also dedicated a fair amount of time to attacking Reform UK, reflecting the threat they pose to Labour, after their local election successes in places like County Durham. The Chancellor has been accused of doom and gloom in her first 11 months in office, focusing on what she claims has been a horrible inheritance from the Conservatives. With this Spending Review she tried to change gear and set out a more positive plan for the years ahead. The North East will hope to play a big part.
