Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Transport of 17 March 2021, Official Report, column 447 on Transport for the North: Funding, whether the £9.5 million referred to in that debate was earmarked expenditure.

Transport for the North (TfN) project that, had they received £10 million in core grant this financial year, their reserves would have risen to £9.5 million at the end of this financial year. It is for Transport for the North to manage their core funding allocation within the parameters set out in the Grant Funding Agreement between the Department and TfN, and therefore questions on the makeup of their projected reserves should be directed to TfN rather than the Department.