Through the spending review and the 10-year infrastructure strategy, the Government are funding at least £725 billion of infrastructure over the next decade. That includes investment in critical assets, such as £24 billion over the next four years to maintain and improve motorways and local roads and £7.9 billion over 10 years to maintain existing flood defences and invest in new ones. We have also committed to long-term maintenance budgets for public service infrastructure, with £10 billion of funding per year by 2034-35 to maintain and repair our hospitals, prisons, courts, schools and colleges so that providers can deliver cost savings by planning ahead.
The weight limit imposed on the M48 Severn bridge due to the deterioration of its supporting cables is having a big impact on local businesses and farmers who work on both sides of the Severn. National Highways estimates that it would cost up to £600 million to repair the bridge, with restrictions only postponing the inevitable. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss the impacts and commit to providing the funding to get the bridge repaired and reopened for everyone as soon as possible?
As was set out in the 10-year infrastructure strategy, £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 has been allocated to National Highways, which is the organisation responsible for maintaining the M48 Severn bridge. The funding includes £1 billion to enhance local road networks and create a new structures fund, which will be used to repair a range of key local structures, such as bridges, flyovers and tunnels.
Constituents in Marylebone want to see improvements to the railway engines that go into Marylebone station. Does the Treasury agree that more work can be done to ensure that the overall investment in those trains is supported by the benefits that accrue across the whole line, all the way down to Aylesbury, as investment in those trains will make a big difference to growth along the whole track?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the critical importance of investment in our railway infrastructure. We know that under the previous Government, we had chronic under-investment in the infrastructure across our country, and the railways bore the brunt of much of that neglect. We are determined to turn that around to ensure that we are investing in railway infrastructure to improve the quality of life for people and drive economic growth right across this country.
Before I start, I quickly welcome my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Lucy Rigby) and my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Dan Tomlinson) to the team. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (James Murray) on his new position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
In response to the questions, I want to be clear that the 10-year national infrastructure strategy is core to delivering this Government’s growth mission to boost living standards. The strategy will fund at least £725 billion of infrastructure over the next decade and transform how projects are planned and delivered, so that we do not have the cost and time overruns that we became so used to under the Conservatives.
Working with colleagues in Greater Manchester, I have been proud to campaign for greater investment in our public transport infrastructure. The Government listened and delivered £2.5 billion of funding for the Bee Network, which will allow us to create the first fully integrated zero-emission public transport system. Will my right hon. Friend explain what that will mean for my constituents in terms of jobs, growth and connectivity?
My hon. Friend is a proud champion of the people of Altrincham and Sale West. Investment through the transport for city regions fund will allow the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to invest in local priorities, creating jobs, better commutes, bigger labour markets and more opportunity across Greater Manchester. That includes investment in the fully electric Bee Network with zero-emission public transport by 2030, including the purchase of 1,000 new electric buses made in Rochdale, Northern Ireland and Scotland. That is in sharp contrast with the SNP Government, who buy their buses from China.
Thanks to Labour’s fiscal rules, the Government have unlocked private investment in UK infrastructure and strengthened investor confidence. The 10-year infrastructure strategy will revitalise all parts of the country’s economy, including in Scotland and in my constituency of West Dunbartonshire. Does the Chancellor agree that the UK Labour Government have put Scotland at the heart of economic growth, with unprecedented support for Scottish industries, jobs and public services, in stark contrast to the SNP Scottish Government?
My hon. Friend is a great champion for the people of West Dunbartonshire, and I know he is working very closely with the Ministry of Defence at the moment to secure defence investment in his constituency. During the summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Scotland, seeing the results of our infrastructure investments—in the defence sector, carbon capture and storage in Aberdeenshire, transport investment in Glasgow, the supercomputer, and RAF Lossiemouth—and how the trade deals are benefiting industries in Scotland, including Scotch whisky.
Can the Chancellor outline the impact on economic growth in the north-east of England she expects from the record-breaking £1.85 billion spending package awarded earlier this year for transport infrastructure in the region?
My hon. Friend has been a good advocate for his constituents. He and I, as well as the Labour Mayor Kim McGuinness, know that investing in roads, cycleways and the metro will make a real and practical difference. This builds on the £0.6 billion that the north-east is receiving through the city region sustainable transport settlement, of which £23 million has been earmarked for Durham. Of course, my hon. Friend’s constituents will also benefit from the wider economic benefits of extending the Tyne and Wear metro, linking Washington with Newcastle and Sunderland.
In my view, Stone railway station is one of the most attractive and beautiful stations on the west coast main line. Sadly, though, its platforms are too short, meaning that inter-city trains cannot stop there. Would the Chancellor of the Exchequer be kind enough to speak with her Transport colleagues about what future options there are for Stone to benefit from the extension of platforms, which would improve its connectivity to not just Birmingham and Manchester, but also London?