Transport Secretary Justine Greening has announced proposals to give local communities and businesses control of decisions and budgets of large transport schemes in their areas.
This new system could see capital funding decisions for local schemes devolved to ‘democratically accountable local transport bodies’.
Currently all schemes over £5m must be approved by central government but these new proposals mean that from 2015, local transport bodies could make the decisions themselves.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening said:
“We want a system that is much more responsive to local needs and it makes good sense to give local residents and passengers a greater say in the transport infrastructure that they rely on so much.
“These proposals could hand real power to communities so they can make locally accountable decisions on what transport improvements are needed in their area. This is a key plank to our localism agenda, freeing local authorities from central government control, so I look forward to responses from across the country.”
