All Change at Horseferry Road
Another one bites the dust
I had planned to spend this weekend digesting and reviewing the update on the Government’s long-trailed Integrated Transport Strategy, but in the end, the only thing available to review was a speech by the now-former Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh.
Like so many strategy announcements before it, the speech mostly covered the intention to develop a new ten-year strategy, with no firm date for when it would be available beyond the previously announced ‘spring 2025’, and with no clear framing of the scope and funding it would cover.
Haigh did however announce three processes that would be launched to support the development of the new strategy: An open call for ideas for the general public and transport industry to contribute suggestions on how to improve transport, a series of regional roadshows to engage communities and local leaders on what they want and think, and the appointment of members to the new Department for Transport Capital Review Panel (though one wonders why the Department and Ministers want to outsource that decision making).
I suspect a common theme of responses will be that when it comes to transport, there are far too many strategies and consultations, and not enough building and improving. Whilst the last decade has seen a long list of strategies such as the Integrated Rail Plan, Network North, half a dozen scope changes on HS2 and Transpennine Rail, and now a new direction under the Labour administration, it has been the devolved transport bodies that have been slowly marching onwards despite impediments from the centre. It is good then, that the cities and regions are looking to be the key focus for any future transport planning.
Perhaps more interesting than the strategy, was the swathe of documentation that the department published on the same day, including updates to the Transport Appraisal Guidance, the DfT’s Value for Money Framework, and statistics covering road spend, bus usage, and the department’s spend and headcount.
In the end though, the headline news was that Haigh was resigning, over a 2014 fraud conviction that would make a Libor-fixer blush. It leaves her the shortest serving Transport Secretary since 1997, barring Anne-Marie Trevelyan during the Liz Truss pentecost1.
Her replacement, Heidi Alexander, should be a safe pair of hands for the department, having headed up Transport for London as Deputy Mayor between 2018 and 2021, and should continue the theme of transport devolution. Her appointment may also lead to a sea change in how HM Gov approaches transport funding and policy decisions for the capital and its network that is increasingly crippled.
So rather than share a deep analysis of a transport strategy that is yet to exist, here’s a list of some of the transport decisions and achievments from her few months in office:
Ended train driver’s strikes across the UK rail network, after making a deal with Aslef for a revised pay package backdated by two years - though it only runs until the next financial year, so watch this space.
Ended separate strikes at LNER, in part by waiving the right of the company to roster driver managers to drive trains during strike periods - which could potentially make future strikes more potent.
Extended the bus fare cap to the end of 2025, but at a higher cap of £3 per journey.
Reinstated HS2’s original planned terminus at Euston, but left the route north of Birmingham open for altenative proposals.
Oversaw a cut in the overall transport pipeline despite overall government spending on capital infrastructure increasing: the A303 Stonehenge tunnel, and the dualling of the A1 near Morpeth are two of the schemes to be killed.
The Restoring Your Railway fund was also cancelled, though its flagship scheme, the reopening of the Ashington line in Northumbria which was in its final stages, will be open by the end of the year.
Some investment decisions were kicked into the long grass however, with 40% of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project decisions delayed, including that of the Lower Thames Crossing,
On the other hand, legislative changes were progressed under Haigh’s watch, with a bill to renationalise the railways passing on her penultimate day in office, and the Buses Bill soon to be laid.
Fifty days