Northern England and Midlands getting funding after scrapping of part of HS2

Rishi Sunak is setting out transport funding redirected from the Government's abandoned HS2 plans for the North of England and the Midlands.

The PM is set to hold a Cabinet meeting in Yorkshire about it today.

The North of England will be allocated £2.5 billion and the Midlands will receive £2.2 billion made available after the northern leg of the flagship levelling-up project was axed.

The money will go into a "local transport fund" targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas, which councils and unitary authorities will decide how best to spend, the Government said.

Labour accused the Governmnent of having the "brass neck" to speak about "transformation" to transport services in the Midlands and North after "countless broken promises to do just that".

The meeting in the North of England will be the first time Mr Sunak has held a regional Cabinet outside of conference season since he took office in 2022.

The last time ministers gathered outside of London was for emergency talks ahead of the PM's announcement that HS2 would be scaled back at last year's meeting of Tory delegates.

The Prime Minister promised to reinvest "every single penny" of £36 billion previously earmarked for the scheme into hundreds of new transport projects.

Mr Sunak is expected to say that ministers and MPs should "hold local authorities to account" to ensure the local transport fund is "used appropriately", Downing Street said.

The Transport Secretary is also expected to update ministerial colleagues on the delivery of Network North - the Government's overarching plan to replace HS2's northern leg.

The Government says the new funding allocations will provide local authorities with long-term certainty over the amount they have to spend on transport services their communities need the most, for example expanding mass transit systems, filling potholes, roadbuilding or refurbishing bus and rail stations.

Mr Sunak said:

"We have a clear plan to level up our country with greater transport links that people need and deliver the right long-term change for a brighter future.

"Through reallocating HS2 funding, we're not only investing billions of pounds directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across the North and Midlands, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matter most in their communities - this is levelling-up in action.

"The local transport fund will deliver a new era of transport connectivity. This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pound worth of funding we've already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country."

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

"Today's £4.7 billion investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across the North and the Midlands, and is only possible because this Government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.

"This funding boost will make a real difference to millions of people, empowering local authorities to drive economic growth, transform communities and improve the daily transport connections that people rely on for years to come."

Labour ridiculed what it described as a "back of a fag packet plan" and said communities are "sick and tired" of empty promises.

Shadow transport secretary and Sheffield MP Louise Haigh said:

"The Tories have failed and local people are sick and tired of this Government taking them for fools.

"Only the Conservatives could have the brass neck to promise yet another 'transformation' of transport infrastructure in the Midlands and North after 14 years of countless broken promises to do just that.

"The Conservative record speaks for itself - record delays and cancellations on the rail network, 22 million more potholes and a record-breaking collapse in bus routes.

"Labour will reform our broken public transport system giving every community the power to demand London-style services, by taking back control over buses and bring our railways back into public ownership as contracts expire. And we will work with mayors and local leaders to deliver a credible and transformative programme of rail and transport infrastructure investment."

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