§ Mr. Geraint DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to make an announcement on funding for the Nottingham Express Transit light rail scheme; and if he will make a statement. [62530]
§ Dr. ReidI am delighted to announce today that the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is to go ahead.
The Government are to provide £167 million of revenue support to Nottingham City Council so it can fund its side of the deal. The NET is an early local authority Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project.
The project is the culmination of years of hard work and is an excellent example of central and local Government working together to bring real benefits to the local community. This is illustrated by our support for this 268W project. Over the next few years the NET will take up a large part of my Department's allocation of resources for local authority PFI projects. We will not be in a position to support similar light rail schemes in this way for the foreseeable future.
As we set out in "New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", the transport White Paper published in July, we aim to give local authorities greater input into providing tailored transport solutions. This is reflected in the recently issued draft guidance to help Local Authorities to formulate local transport plans which are a core part of our proposals to deliver integrated transport strategies at the local level.