The region’s political and business leaders will meet next week to discuss the way forward for the Sub-national Transport Body as it continues to deliver its statutory responsibilities and strategic objectives.
Transport for the North is to prioritise work on Strategic Transport Plan, decarbonisation and supporting local authorities.
The North of England’s political and business leaders will meet in Leeds next week to discuss how Transport for the North (TfN) will continue in a new structure following funding cuts and changes to the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) programme.
Our Board meeting will look at the prioritisation of its activities after the Department for Transport confirmed a £6.5m core budget for FY 2022/23 against TfN’s funding ‘ask’ of £10m. The meeting will also consider TfN’s role as co-sponsor on NPR, as first indicated in last November’s Integrated Rail Plan.
Members, who are representatives of the region’s 20 Local Transport Authorities and 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships, will be asked to approve an interim budget and business plan covering the first quarter of the new financial year. Priorities for the year ahead include taking forward work to update the North’s Independent Economic Review and the revision of the Strategic Transport Plan.
The report also highlights the continuation of TfN’s statutory responsibilities, and that the organisational outcomes being used as the basis for business planning are:
A separate item on the agenda covering the co-sponsorship arrangements for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), sets out how we have a key role in ensuring the North’s voice shapes delivery of the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP).
The arrangements mean that TfN will continue to provide strategic advice and direction to the programme in line with its core statutory function, and will also sit with DfT on a new joint-sponsor board to monitor, advise and comment on objectives and progress, and engage with key stakeholders and regional partners.
Also on the agenda are:
Transport for the North Board meets at 11am on Wednesday 30 March at the Leeds City Hilton.
The meeting is open to the public and the media (exceptions for private items) and will be streamed live online – details are available via TfN’s website.