Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the purpose, (2) the terms of reference, and (3) the annual operating budget, of the Northern Transport Acceleration Council; what staff support this council has and who provides this; and what costs this council has incurred so far.

The Northern Transport Acceleration Council is an advisory forum to provide the North’s leaders with regular and more direct access to Ministers to discuss priority transport and infrastructure projects, utilising their local expertise and knowledge to drive forward growth and development in the North of England. It is intended to provide a mechanism for speeding up key decision making and rapidly progressing projects, supporting the Secretary of State in his role as the Northern Powerhouse Minister.

The Council does not have an operating budget in and of itself as it functions as an advisory forum to progress and unblock existing priority transport projects – it is not vested with its own decision-making or funding powers.

The Council is supported by a Secretariat of DfT staff currently based in the North. Beyond the time of these existing staff, the work of the Council has not incurred any additional costs to date.