Cuts plan reflects transport’s importance to UK prosperity
December 1st 2010 Transport Secretary Philip Hammond gave a major boost to the UK economy by giving the go-ahead to 16 road and public transport schemes.
Along with the eight schemes previously announced by the Chancellor George Osborne, the 24 projects are a key output of the Department for Transport’s spending review settlement. Construction will begin in 2012-3. They will deliver major upgrades to relieve congestion either through widening or managed motorway projects. A full list of approved projects can be found on the DfT website.
In addition, the Transport Secretary announced a pot of over £600m of funding for further local authority projects. LAs will be invited to bid for this funding over the next few months.
Councils will be challenged to consider the cost, scope and possibility of local funding when bidding. The Transport Secretary’s boost came a week after Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review speech, in which he assured the transport sector that the Government will invest £30 billion in projects over the next four years, which is more than was spent in the last four years.
Hammond said: “While we have had to make some tough choices, I am pleased that spending on transport was treated as a priority for the Government in the Spending Review.
“This investment will not only bring benefits in terms of reduced congestion, shorter journey times and more efficient public transport, but also provides a vital economic boost. For every pound we spend on Highways Agency schemes, on average we will get back £6 of benefits and in many cases there are even higher returns for local authority schemes. Transport is vital to securing the UK’s long term prosperity.”
The Government also announced that the Highways Agency will continue work on developing a further 14 schemes in preparation for them to start in future spending review periods, as funding becomes available, and will review the design of a further four with the aim of finding a best value solution.
The Department for Transport faced less severe cuts in the CSR than other big Government departments. The capital expenditure budgets for Education and Health will fall by 60% and 17% respectively by 2014-15. In contrast, Transport faces a relatively modest 11% cut.
Departmental resourcing for transport will fall broadly in line with other departments. Transport’s budget will decline by 21% to 2015 while that of the Home Office will fall by 23% and Defra by 29%. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
