Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the funding allocated to the UK railway network between 2014 and 2019 (a) has been and (b) is planned to be spent in (i) Lancashire and (ii) the North West.
a) Historical spending
Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. These provide statistical allocations of public spending according to where the benefits of that spend are accrued.
The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government Departments including devolved administrations.
This information is available for regions (formerly government office regions) only, and therefore is unavailable for Lancashire.
The most recent statistics up to 2016/17 are presented in the table below. These show total public expenditure on national railways for the North West, and reflect the levels of both ‘capital’ and ‘current’ (resource) expenditure.
Total annual public sector expenditure on railways (£millions, nominal)
| 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/161 | 2016/17 |
North West | 893 | 758 | 1,476 | 1,262 |
Total expenditure | 8,992 | 9,134 | 14,529 | 15,681 |
North West as % of total expenditure | 10% | 8% | 10% | 8% |
1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015/16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.
b) Future spending
Recent analysis published by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority shows that over the period 2017/18 to 2020/21, the North West will receive £1,353 of central government transport capital expenditure per head of population, the most of all English regions. This publication covers all transport modes, and does not disaggregate further by individual modes. It does not include ‘current’ expenditure or spend by Local Authorities or Public Corporations.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-and-construction-pipeline-2017 (page 45).