Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prioritise the economic and transport needs of the North during the reorganisation of his Department and Transport for the North.

Under the new client framework for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) as outlined in the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), Transport for the North (TfN) will continue to provide advice to the Department through a joint sponsor Board for the programme. The precise terms of the sponsorship agreement will be discussed and agreed between TfN and the Department, but our ambition is for TfN to continue to input strategic direction to the programme to ensure that regional economic and transport priorities are fully considered in programme development. TfN will be provided with the funding necessary to act as co-sponsor on NPR and maintain access to core grant funding commensurate with undertaking their statutory functions.