
Northern leaders set out plans to ‘decide and deliver’ transport strategy
A conference in Leeds is hearing today how the region’s leaders have been putting together plans for a ‘new north’, but they are warning that their ambitions will need more cash – and more powers devolved from Westminster. Transport for the North chief executive Martin Tugwell will tell his audience in Leeds that local leaders are best placed to make the plans a reality, creating opportunities for people and businesses. He wants the region’s leaders to have the power to ‘decide and deliver’, providing an inclusive and sustainable North and a long-term funding settlement, which will put rail passengers first by leading the transport strategy. He says: ‘There is a prize of building a New North up for grabs, but it requires both investment to create transformational change, and the devolution of powers to those best placed to use them.’