Transport: Infrastructure
(asked on 20th June 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much capital funding from the public purse has been spent on transport infrastructure projects in each region of England in the years 2012-13 to 2016-17; and what estimate he has made of that funding per head of population in those regions.
Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics.
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.
When comparing expenditure across regions a number of factors should be considered. For example, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population” (or “per capita”) basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside of a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas (such as London) tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, and these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs.
Statistics for public sector capital expenditure by region of England are given in Table 1 below. Table 2 provides the equivalent statistics per capita. Capital expenditure has been used as a proxy for spending on infrastructure specifically, but may include some capital investment beyond transport infrastructure projects.
Table 1: Total capital spending on all transport, by all public sector bodies (£millions nominal)
Region | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-151 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
East Midlands | 469 | 597 | 746 | 795 | 664 |
East of England | 973 | 1,034 | 1,176 | 1,410 | 1,427 |
London | 3,875 | 4,022 | 4,549 | 5,335 | 5,770 |
North East | 295 | 323 | 406 | 521 | 512 |
North West | 1,117 | 1,136 | 1,393 | 1,824 | 1,807 |
South East | 1,195 | 1,432 | 1,542 | 1,968 | 2,121 |
South West | 624 | 662 | 803 | 1,011 | 1,169 |
West Midlands | 826 | 804 | 1,087 | 1,329 | 1,311 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 805 | 874 | 1,084 | 1,335 | 1,129 |
1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis
Table 2: Capital spending per capita, on all transport, by all public sector bodies(£s nominal)
Region | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-151 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
East Midlands | £103 | £130 | £161 | £170 | £140 |
East of England | £165 | £174 | £195 | £232 | £233 |
London | £466 | £478 | £533 | £616 | £658 |
North East | £113 | £124 | £155 | £198 | £194 |
North West | £158 | £160 | £195 | £254 | £250 |
South East | £137 | £163 | £174 | £220 | £235 |
South West | £117 | £123 | £148 | £185 | £212 |
West Midlands | £146 | £142 | £190 | £231 | £226 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | £151 | £164 | £202 | £248 | £208 |
1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis
Total capital expenditure is prone to large year-on-year fluctuations as major projects are completed and funding to new projects begins. Large transport projects tend to require large sums of capital expenditure during construction, but deliver benefits for many years into the future. Consideration of this must be given when making year-on-year comparisons.
Please note that 2017-18 data is available on HM Treasury’s publication webpage:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis