Transport Connectivity: North-west England

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) on securing this important debate. I had originally prepared a lengthy speech that laid out in great and eloquent detail the huge number of issues that we have in Rossendale and Darwen around transport.

Those issues include the challenge of simply walking or cycling to school or work; our patchy bus services and isolated villages; the congested, unsafe and potholed roads; and of course our railway connections—or lack of them. Darwen’s transport could generously be described as wildly unreliable, while Rossendale is the only local authority area in the north with no commuter links at all. I therefore look with envy at my hon. Friends with merely unreliable services.

Time does not allow for a full explanation of all those issues, and it would clearly be unnecessary, as this debate shows that the picture is shared and understood by hon. Members. I am sure that the Minister recognises it too. We are all too familiar with cut-off small towns and villages with so much unmet potential, yet the investment never seems to come our way.

We know the problems and the legacy that we have been left with, and we know the massive benefits that true transport connectivity can deliver, but we also know the solutions. The Government have made a start by investing in rural bus services and pothole repair, while committing to act on some long-standing regional rail priorities. However, the question remains as to how we make sure that left-behind towns get the connectivity they need to unleash their full potential. The previous Government and the systems that they put in place manifestly failed to do that, but I believe we have two big opportunities under the new Government to do things differently and to deliver the change that the north-west needs.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper) eloquently—indeed, brilliantly—put it, the Green Book is a massive issue that has resulted in a sustained long-term bias towards wealthier areas. We have to change that. The Treasury review is a huge opportunity for us, and we must ensure that it is carried out with true ambition, rather than just tweaking the rules. The existing bias must be removed and the long-term strategic impacts of investment fully recognised, as opposed to overvaluing short-term returns. We also need to ensure that the social wellbeing and enabling aspects of projects are properly valued. Indeed, why not bias projects towards deprived areas?

We also need to recognise that guidelines are just guidelines, and that there are entrenched cultures within appraisal mechanisms that, regardless of what the guidelines say, will tend to default to outdated benefit-cost ratio metrics. That review is a huge opportunity that we must grasp and I am really glad that the north-west is speaking with one voice on the issue.

Of course, our other great opportunity is devolution. The north-west could be the first region in England to have a full set of elected mayors with devolved budgets. That would give us the chance to join up our transport investment across the north. We have seen what innovative transport thinking can do in Manchester, so let us imagine what could be achieved across the north with a fully devolved regional transport budget and mayors working together to unlock our potential.

I find that possibility hugely exciting, but I also worry that opportunistic and self-interested local politicians may try to derail the process. For instance, the Reform candidates in the Lancashire county council elections are standing on a platform opposing devolution. They are defending a status quo that may be in their own interests, but it manifestly does not meet the interests of residents of Lancashire—what madness! We need to reject such pessimism and put the north-west back in the fast lane.

It is in small towns such as Rossendale and Darwen that the next election will be won and lost. We cannot be left behind as our cities forge ahead. Truly integrated transport could connect our futures, and I believe that the Government and our empowered communities can grasp that opportunity.