Labour

Government should devolve powers over delivery of local transport as well as investment - Maria Eagle

Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the launch of a consultation on devolving local major transport schemes, said:

“The government is right to have listened to our call for a major decentralisation of transport spending and decision-making and we strongly support the proposals set out today. However, Ministers must do more to explain how the proposed local transport consortia, with LEPs playing a central role, will be genuinely accountable to local communities.
 
“This is a belated acknowledgement from the government that Labour has been right to warn that LEPs would not be able to fill the gap left by the government’s hasty decision to abolish RDA’s unless their creation went hand in hand with a devolution of funding. For those areas not yet covered by a LEP, the government needs to provide reassurances on how those communities will not be held back. As many of the road schemes to which the government has committed require on-going funding beyond the current spending period, the government should acknowledge that, in reality, it will take considerably longer than the  target date of 2015 before this devolution of decision-making will genuinely be achieved.
 
“Even accounting for the very clear national benefits that come from ensuring our capital city has a world class transport system, there remains a significant regional disparity in transport investment. While Ministers continue to sign off individual road and rail schemes in Whitehall, the in-built bias will remain. That’s why it is so important for local communities to be put in charge of deciding on the transport priorities for their own area.

“As well as devolving decision-making and spending on road schemes, the government should also take a much bolder approach to transport devolution. While Transport for London has been able to introduce the Oyster card, set bus routes, decide fare levels and integrate bus and train services, the rest of England has been left behind.  The reality is that bus deregulation outside London is a dogmatic experiment that has failed and communities feel they have no say over the quality of local rail services. That’s why our policy review has been looking at how we can devolve more transport responsibilities with decisions made locally by integrated transport authorities, as London has now, with powers to deliver local bus services in the way that best suits each community.”