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Transport (North-West)

I do not wish to dwell on the rights and wrongs of the transport innovation bid, but the overwhelming rejection of the revenue-raising congestion charge to part-fund public transport improvements in Greater Manchester makes it increasingly unlikely that any local authority will press ahead with a different scheme, including congestion charging. It would be a brave local authority that was prepared to risk the political consequences of promoting a charging scheme, particularly at a time when people are struggling as a result of the economic downturn and businesses are facing an uncertain future. That means that over £1 billion could be left unspent and will probably find its way back to the Treasury. We believe that that money should be spent to improve transport now, on schemes that will either help to kick-start the local economy or promote greener and more sustainable transport. There are schemes in Greater Manchester that are ready to go now, and I am sure that there are other schemes across the country that local authorities would like to promote that could use that money, but it cannot be accessed because no one is prepared to put in a bid that includes congestion charging.