'This isn’t London bashing - but £1,182 per person for London and £486 for northerners? That isn't right'
The North got £140bn less than London for transport over 14 years
If the government spent the same amount on transport in the North of England as it did in London over the last 14 years, we would have had £140bn more. That's according to new analysis which has found that regional disparities have 'ballooned' in the last decade.
Independent analysis of Treasury figures by think tank IPPR North has found that, in the 10 years up to 2022/23, the government spent £1,183 per person in London. During the same period, the North saw just £486 per person spent on transport projects across the region.
During the course of the decade, the North West saw £540 per person spent while the UK as a whole received £603 per person.
The Midlands fared even worse - receiving just £455 per person - with the East Midlands receiving the lowest investment at just £355.
The latest analysis by IPPR North comes just a few days before Rachel Reeves reveals her spending plans for the next three years.
Ahead of the Spending Review on Wednesday (June 11), the Chancellor was in Rochdale last week to announce more than £15bn for transport in the North and Midlands, including £2.5bn for new buses, tram stops and a Metrolink extension in Greater Manchester.
The government is also expected to back plans to build a new railway line between Manchester and Liverpool later this week.
The Manchester Evening News understands 'hundreds of millions' have been set aside to develop plans to build the line by the 2030s.
But this investment comes after a 'decade of broken promises' in which the North missed out on more than £140bn, IPPR North says.
This would have been enough to build seven Elizabeth lines - the capital's costly Crossrail project which finally opened in 2022.
According to IPPR North, the £140bn the North missed out on between 2009/10 and 2022/23 is worth more than the entirety of capital spending on transport in the region since the turn of the millennium, which it estimates to have been £83bn since 1999/2000.
The think tank has now joined forces with Lord Jim O’Neill to call for ‘Great Northern Rail’ - a plan to create and improve a connected rail network across the North, building on the mayors' plans to unlock a economic development and housing growth opportunities.
Former Treasury Minister and Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Lord Jim O’Neill said: "Good governance requires the guts to take a long-term approach, not just quick fixes.
"So the Chancellor is right in her focus on the UK’s long-standing supply-side weaknesses – namely our woeful productivity and weak private and public investment.
"Backing major infrastructure is the right call, and this Spending Review is the right time for the Chancellor to place a big bet on northern growth and begin to close this investment chasm.
"But it’s going to take more than commitments alone – she'll need to set out a transparent framework for delivery."
Marcus Johns, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR North said: "Today’s figures are concrete proof that promises made to the North over the last decade were hollow. It was a decade of deceit.
"We are 124 years on from the end of Queen Victoria’s reign – yet the North is still running on infrastructure built during her rein – while our transport chasm widens.
"This isn’t London bashing - Londoners absolutely deserve investment. But £1,182 per person for London and £486 for northerners? The numbers don’t lie – this isn’t right
"This government have begun to restore fairness with their big bet on transport cash for city leaders.
"They should continue on this journey to close this investment gap in the upcoming Spending Review and decades ahead."
A government source said: "This report lays bare the way in which successive Conservative governments have short-changed areas outside of London and the south east, denying millions of people access to jobs, education and opportunity.
"Labour promised we would bring growth to every part of the country and we’ve put our money where our mouth is.
"As part of our Plan for Change we’ve more than doubled investment in local transport in England’s city regions, delivering the biggest ever investment in buses, trams and local rail.
"This Labour government is investing in Britain’s renewal and making everyday journeys easier in the places you live.”
The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.