Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Pursuant to her Department’s Annual Account 2024/25, with reference to page 19, (a) what funding she will be providing to each Mayoral Combined Authority in each financial year through to 2029/30, (b) what funding she is making available to the proposed Greater Essex Mayoral Combined County Authority in each financial year through to 2029/30, and (c) what her forecast is of the annual reduction in support for the services covered by Train Operating Companies in each year of the Spending Review period; with reference to page 19, what her estimate is of the increased levels of ridership required to cover the planned reductions in her Department’s support for Train Operating Companies in each year of the Spending Review period; and with reference to page 348, if she will publish the lines of expenditure incurred in the estimated £250 million to be written off in respect of the cancellation of the A12 Widening Scheme and the A47 dualling scheme.

On (a) and (b), at Spending Review 2025 ("SR25"), the government announced £15.6bn of funding for Transport for City Region settlements for 9 eligible Mayoral Combined Authorities ("MCAs") from 2027-28 to 2031-32. This funding builds on the funding allocated to eligible MCAs for years 2022-23 to 2026-27 via the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). Mayoral allocations for TCR were published on gov.uk. Allocations for the final year of CRSTS (2026/27) are being confirmed with Ministers in the upcoming months.

For MCAs and other local areas outside of CRSTS/TCR, the department secured £2.3bn of funding for the Local Transport Grant (LTG) at SR25 and multi-year allocations and formula methodology were published on gov.uk. These allocations were calculated using a formula based on population and deprivation. Allocations were published based on the current Local Authority structure. Essex’s Local Transport Authority’s allocation for LTG is summarised in table 1 below. When it is established as a new MCAs, their transport funding will compromise the total of their constituent authorities. Table 1 includes the LTG allocations for other MCAs, a full breakdown of all areas can be found on Gov.uk.

Essex, and other areas, will also be eligible for other local transport grants and funding secured at SR25 such as funding for Buses, Highways Maintenance, Active Travel and Electric vehicle infrastructure. DfT Ministers are considering advice on these funds, and how they will be allocated across Local areas. Allocations will be released once Ministerial decisions have been made.

Table 1 – LTG allocations for Essex LTA and MCAs in receipt of LTG (full local allocations can be found on gov.uk).