Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department still plans to improve transport links between Cambois and North Blyth in the context of the failure to agree a deal to build an electric vehicle gigafactory in Cambois.

It is for the local transport authority to decide investment priorities for their transport network. The new North-East Mayoral Combined Authority is eligible for a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement of up to £563m to March 2027 to invest in local transport priorities. The programme for which will need to be agreed once the Metro Mayor has been elected. The North-East has also received a future five-year indicative allocation of £1,849m from 2027 to 2032.

This is all in addition to the hundreds of millions of pounds in funding that has or could be provided directly for schemes in this area, including: we have provided funding to ensure that passenger services will return to the Northumberland Line this year; from the billions saved from the scrapping of HS2, as announced in Network North, funding will be available to complete dualling of the A1 from Morpeth to Ellingham, subject to planning consent and approval of a full business case for the project, providing a continuous high quality dual carriageway from Newcastle to Ellingham, north of Alnwick; and Northumberland County Council are developing the Blyth Relief Road scheme, which would provide a new access onto the A189, for possible Department for Transport funding as part of the Major Road Network/Large Local Majors programme.