The Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR) and IPPR North have published a new report that claims that if the north of England had seen the same transport investment as London under the previous government, it would have received £140bn more.
IPPR researchers said that the £140bn missed out on between between 2009/10 and 2022/23 equates to entirety of capital spending on transport in the region since the turn of the millennium – £83bn since 1999/2000.
Their independent analysis of UK Treasury figures estimated that over the decade to 2022/23, each year:
- London received £1,183 per person
- The North saw £486 per person
- The North East saw £430 per person
- The North West saw £540 per person
- Yorkshire and Humber saw £441 per person
- The UK as a whole received £603 per person
- And England as a saw whole £592 per person
The analysis shows that the Midlands received £455 per person – with the East Midlands receiving the lowest investment of every nation and region of the UK at just £355 per person.
Former treasury minister and chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Lord Jim O’Neill, said: “Good governance requires the guts to take a long-term approach, not just quick fixes.
“So the Chancellor is right in her focus on the UK’s long-standing supply-side weaknesses – namely our woeful productivity and weak private and public investment.
“Backing major infrastructure is the right call, and this Spending Review is the right time for the Chancellor to place a big bet on northern growth and begin to close this investment chasm.
“But it’s going to take more than commitments alone – she’ll need to set out a transparent framework for delivery.”
Achievements in sustainable transport planning will be recognised and celebrated at the fourth annual CiTTi Awards on 25 November 2025 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector!
