Transport Plan (Hansard, 13 February 2001)

§ Mr. Hill

[holding answer 6 February 2001]"Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan" assumes that public expenditure on local transport in England in the period 2001–02 to 2005–06 will total £30.7 billion. Of this, £12.4 billion is capital expenditure, of which £8.4 billion will be provided to local authorities outside London through local transport plans. Public resource expenditure is assumed to be £18.3 billion.

The plan assumes that £2.5 billion of public resource expenditure will be used to support urban and rural bus services in England between 2001–02 to 2005–06. This figure excludes expenditure that the plan assumes the Mayor will provide for bus services in London. In addition, local authorities outside London will be taking forward a number of major bus projects and will be using a significant proportion of the capital resources available to them for smaller-scale schemes on bus-related measures.

Of the £30 billion of public expenditure to eliminate the backlog in local road and bridge maintenance, complete the bridge strengthening programme and replace life-expired lighting on local roads over the 10-year plan period mentioned in paragraph 6.61 of the plan, the plan

Table 1: Progress on light rail lines
Scheme	Capital cost¹ (£ million, cash)	Government support² (£ million, cash)	State of progress
Nottingham Express Transit	³180	^3,4180	Under construction
Tyne and Wear Metro: extension to Sunderland	100	50	Under construction
Manchester Metrolink extensions: three lines (Oldham-Rochdale, Ashton under Lyne, Manchester airport)	⁵513	⁶256	Construction to start in early 2002
Docklands Light Railway: extension to London City airport	98	⁷30	Construction could start in 2002 and be complete by the end of 2004, subject to the outcome of an application for Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA) powers
Midland Metro extensions: two lines (Birmingham city centre, Wednesbury-Brierley Hill)	165	⁸—	Provisional view announced that scheme passes economic appraisal. Construction could start before 2005 subject to outcome of an application for TWA powers

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assumes that revenue spending on highways maintenance by local authorities will be £10.1 billion in the period 2001–02 to 2005–06. A further £3 billion of capital expenditure for local road maintenance will be provided in this period to local authorities outside London through local transport plans.

Paragraph 6.32 of the plan states that the specific schemes on the strategic road network to be progressed by the Highways Agency over the period of the plan will depend on the outcome of the multi-modal studies and decisions taken in the context of regional planning guidance. The only forecast that can be made about the number of schemes to be started in the period 2001–02 to 2005–06 is in respect of those committed trunk road schemes currently included in the targeted programme of improvements. Contracts for 13 of these schemes will be let in the current financial year (2000–01). The Agency expect contracts for a further 25 schemes, including nine by-passes, to be let in the period 2001–02 to 2005–06, subject to completion of statutory procedures for 13 of these schemes. The 10-year plan anticipates that public expenditure on the strategic road network will total £9.4 billion between 2001–02 and 2005–06. Of this, £5.7 billion will be capital expenditure and £3.7 billion will be resource expenditure.

The most advanced proposals for light rail schemes, which would deliver 13 new lines, are identified in paragraph 6.61 of the plan. The current position on each of these projects is set out in table 1. There are also a number of other proposals which are at a less advanced stage, including new systems in Merseyside and Hull and extensions to Midland Metro, Tyne and Wear Metro, Manchester Metrolink, South Yorkshire Supertram and Nottingham Express Transit. Work on these proposals is not yet at a sufficiently advanced stage to be able to forecast whether they could be under construction by 2005–06 or the level of public expenditure that might be involved. However, the plan assumes that public capital expenditure on light rail outside London between 2001–02 and 2005–06 will total £1 billion. The actual amounts will depend on progress with individual schemes and the funding packages agreed with promoters.

In London, it will be for the Mayor to decide priorities within the resources available to Transport for London.

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Table 1: Progress on light rail lines
Scheme	Capital cost¹ (£ million, cash)	Government support² (£ million, cash)	State of progress
Leeds Supertram (three lines)	434	⁸—	Economic appraisal under consideration; announcement to be made as soon as possible. Construction could start before 2005
South Hampshire Rapid Transit System	190	⁸—	Economic appraisal under consideration; announcement to be made as soon as possible. Construction could start before 2005 subject to the outcome of an application for TWA powers
Bristol Light Rapid Transport	194	⁸—	Economic appraisal under consideration; announcement of provisional view to be made as soon as possible. TWA powers not sought yet. Construction could start before 2005 subject to the outcome of an application for TWA powers
¹ Capital cost figures are in some cases estimates
² Government support figures are for capital expenditure
³ PFI
⁴ Government provide resource expenditure to support payments made under PFI deals
⁵ Total construction costs of the Metrolink extensions
⁶ Government support may also include resource expenditure if a performance and availability payment regime is adopted
⁷ Support for the DLR extension is being drawn from the Capital Modernisation Fund
⁸ No decision yet