UK mayors given fast-track route to build new trams, transport links
Mayors in the UK are being given a fast-track route to building new tramways, roads and light rail, the Transport secretary has said.
Large transport projects put forward by local leaders need to have Department for Transport approval before they are built.
Heidi Alexander announced on Friday that the threshold at which mayors need to seek her department's approval would rise to £500 million.
The change will mean elected leaders can bypass the queue for Whitehall sign-off on their projects, if they cost less than half a billion pounds.
"Today we're giving local leaders more power to shape transport in their community," the Transport Secretary wrote in a post on X.
"Locally funded transport schemes up to £500 million no longer need Whitehall approval, meaning fewer projects get bogged down by bureaucracy, and you get the services that make your life easier."
The new threshold was announced as Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled plans to let mayors use a share of the income tax and business rates raised in their areas.
"I said we'd take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country," he said.
Burnham, who was previously the mayor of Greater Manchester, added: "Under our plans, more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community.
"Soon, every local leader will have the power and resources to improve public transport, build homes and create jobs."
A white paper with more details of the reforms is expected to be published when Chancellor John Healey presents his first budget in the autumn.
Shadow local government secretary James Cleverly has warned the tax changes risk bringing about "higher taxes, with no guarantee of better outcomes for local people".
The Conservative frontbencher said Burnham was "right to want to encourage growth in all communities", but added: "Labour's regionalist approach takes power away from local communities, sidelining local councils and ignoring local identities."
The prime minister began his devolution drive during the first week of his premiership.
He hosted several mayors at his inaugural No 10 North meeting in Manchester last Friday.
They included the Conservative mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Paul Bristow, who when he was elected said he wanted to build a light rail scheme in Cambridge, along with turning single-carriageway parts of the A10 and A47 roads into dual carriageways.
Labour mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, who has called for a tram network in the Leeds and Bradford area, also attended the meeting.
"What I'm trying to do here is make the UK one team where we're all pulling behind you because your place is where growth happens or it doesn't happen," Burnham told the gathered mayors.
By Will Meakin-Durrant, Press Association Political Staff
Press Association: News
source: PA
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