Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the Government's per capita transport spending in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Lincolnshire in relation to other UK regions and counties in the most recent period for which that information is available.
When comparing expenditure across regions several factors should be considered. The benefits from spend on transport interventions will often accrue to passengers far beyond the residents of the immediate local area or region. This is particularly the case for spending on the railways which connect cities and regions across the country and deliver broader benefits beyond the region concerned.
During 2019-20 there was £289 of public expenditure on transport per head in the East Midlands, this compares to an average of £497 per head for the UK.
As we look to level up our country, we are committed to further investment across the country. That is why this Government recently announced the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund to provide the opportunity for local areas to bid for their priority investment projects.
A further breakdown of spend in 2019-20 is given in this table, which shows identifiable public expenditure (in £s) on all modes of transport per head of population, by region.
Region | 2019-20 |
North East | 315 |
North West | 438 |
Yorkshire & the Humber | 309 |
East Midlands | 289 |
West Midlands | 492 |
East of England | 470 |
London | 882 |
South East | 521 |
South West | 329 |
UK | 497 |
We do not make comparative assessments between UK counties but some recent examples of Government transport investment in Lincolnshire include: