The Transport Secretary has revealed that mayors are now being given a fast-track route to building new tramways, roads and light rail. The change will mean that mayors and authority leaders can bypass the queue for Whitehall sign-off on their projects, if the project costs less than £500 million.
Currently, large transport projects put forward by local leaders, with a cost threshold of £200 million, need to have Department for Transport approval before they are built. However, according to a statement made by Heidi Alexander on Friday 31 July, the cost threshold will now rise to £500 million. Oversight of nationally significant projects is set to remain shared between Westminster and local leaders, especially when the cost is more than £1 billion.
On a post on X, the Transport Secretary said: “Today we’re giving local leaders more power to shape transport in their community… meaning fewer projects [will] get bogged down by bureaucracy, and you get the services that make your life easier.”
The new threshold was announced as Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled plans to let mayors use a share of the income tax and business rates raised in their areas – taking power out of Westminster and redistributing it across the country. Mr Burnham, who was previously the mayor of Greater Manchester, has claimed that more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community. A white paper with more details of the reforms is expected to be published when Chancellor John Healey presents his first budget in the autumn.