Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has established a (a) board and (b) working group for the purposes of realising the economic growth potential of East West Rail.

HM Treasury has recently established an official-level East West Rail economic growth board with representatives from relevant government departments (DfT, DLUHC, DBT, DSIT & the IPA). The board will ensure that central government is fully joined up in its support for locally-led plans to maximise the benefits of East West Rail, and will co-ordinate activity accordingly.

The government provided £15m of funding at Spring Budget 2023 to support local authorities along the East West Rail route to further progress their plans to make the most of the railway for their communities.