Chancellor George Osborne has angered residents in the south west with a gaffe in a speech that had been designed to rouse support for tackling what he called the region’s ‘biggest weakness’ – transport connectivity.
Mr Osborne said yesterday that the Treasury is working with the transport secretary to establish a south west Peninsula Rail Task Force, to develop a comprehensive rail strategy for the region.
The Peninsula Rail Task Force is already in existence – made up of local authorities from Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, the south west chamber of commerce and Local Enterprise Partnerships - and has been campaigning for greater investment into the region’s rail and road networks since 2012.
A Treasury spokeswoman clarified that the chancellor had not meant to suggest that a new task force would be established but that the government would work with the existing local group to help deliver on plans to boost connectivity.
A source close to the task force said there was ‘very little to get excited about in the speech’ stating that a specific resilience plan for south west rail backed up with a comprehensive spending package was desperately needed.
Mr Osborne offered local authorities in the south west the opportunity to establish a regional transport body, in a speech laying out a six-point plan to boost the economy of the region.
Mr Osborne highlighted improvements in transport as a top priority as the Treasury aims to add more than £6bn to the local economy – raising its average growth rate of 4.17% to at least the UK average of 4.23%.
The chancellor said: ‘Today we set this challenge to councils across the region: we have Transport for London, we have just created Transport for the North. Will you come together to form a new body which could, in time, play a part in the design and management of a new, local rail franchise? So we have decisions on local transport needs taken by those who know what is right for the south-west.’
Chair of the Peninsula Task Force, Cllr Andrew Leadbetter said: ‘Since the line was severed at Dawlish, and the floods caused major disruption across our rail and road networks last year, we have been making the point to Government that the South West has a legacy of underinvestment.
‘It’s not just new schemes that have fallen by the wayside - maintenance is also a problem. For every £545 the Government spends in London, it is just £41 in the South West. That is simply not acceptable.
‘Our communities deserve and need a functioning railway. Whilst we see investment going into the North and Midlands, we are not even in the position where Dawlish is resilient and that’s our lifeline. It’s not enough to say it will be 'planned for’ - we need greater certainty for our businesses to grow and expand. Warm words are not going to pay for our rail…this rail network needs a significant injection of funds to transform it and that is not something that we can do without the Government’s help. We await their response.’
A Treasury spokesperson said:'This Government is investing £7.5bn in transport infrastructure in the South West. These infrastructure projects include a commitment to dual the entire A303, A30 and A358, and put a tunnel in at Stonehenge, which will allow drivers to stay on a dual carriage way all the way from central London to within 20 miles of Land’s End.
'In addition, we are committed to a full electrification of the Great Western Main Line, with brand new electric intercity trains, which is one of our biggest national rail projects seeking to improve the connectivity of the South West.'
