Let Mayors Build
The UK has fewer mass transit systems than other European countries. This paper, co-authored by JP Spencer, director of devolution policy at Labour Together, Ben Hopkinson, head of housing and infrastructure at Centre for Policy Studies, and David Lawrence, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress, argues that giving metro mayors the power to fund and approve new infrastructure could usher in a new wave of building. Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, writes the foreword.
Summary
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill should give metro mayors more powers over the construction of new trams, light rail, and underground lines. Mayors are well placed to build regional transport infrastructure projects, but currently lack the necessary powers. To have control over projects, mayors need both approval and funding powers. The Bill should include the ability for metro mayors to:
Grant Transport and Works Act Orders (TWAOs), which grant planning approval for most tram, light rail, and underground projects. Right now TWAOs are a long, uncertain, and expensive back-and-forth between local promoters and central government. Mayors know their area best and should be able to approve projects for their region. See Appendix 1 for a draft amendment that would grant this power.
Introduce a tourism levy on visitors as a component of an overnight stay in hotels and short-term lets.
Improve land value capture, as currently mayors are unable to raise money on the land value increases that accrue to existing landowners. This should be done through allowing mayors to levy business rates supplements without a poll. This learns from London’s Crossrail experience where delivery of the transformational project - funded partially by such a levy - was framed as an investment in the region. A council tax precept could also be considered for properties near new stations who will benefit, expiring once debt from building is repaid.
Create a Workplace Parking Levy without Secretary of State approval. New parking levies can take up to three years to get the sign off from the Transport Secretary. This should be fully devolved to local authorities and metro mayors as it is ultimately a regional matter.
Use the integrated settlement better. Currently, any schemes worth £200m or more over the life of the scheme have to be approved by the Department for Transport (DfT). This limit should be scrapped. It makes little sense for the DfT to be approving business cases for tram extensions when the places themselves have more knowledge and experience.
For major schemes which still require central approval or funds, avoid the iterative process of comments through layers of government until they reach the Treasury. Instead, utilising the Treasury Approvals Process, schemes should agree an expedited approvals and assurance plan with just two approval points: a joint approval between the scheme developer and the DfT and a joint approval between the Treasury and the Cabinet Office.
The current state of transit and productivity in Britain’s cities:
Despite a long history of world leading transport projects, the UK currently has a mass transit gap. Only nine British cities have a tram or metro, compared to 30 French cities and 60 German cities. Every French city with a population above 150,000 has a tram or metro, that’s the equivalent of Newport, Peterborough, or Dundee.
Cities tend to be more productive because they have larger labour markets that let people specialise. But Britain is an outlier, with cities, except London, being less productive than the national average.
This is because Britain’s cities are smaller than they appear. Far fewer people can get to city centres using public transport or private cars than similar cities in Europe and America, which shrinks labour markets and reduces productivity.
Mass transit is needed to encourage improved land use and regeneration projects in Britain’s cities. The density that enables a larger labour market and agglomeration can only be supported by mass transit as it can effectively move more people in and out of our cities.
The role of metro mayors:
Metro mayors are visible champions for their regions, but are underpowered. The current model erodes public trust every time a mayor calls for a project and Westminster turns them down. People stop believing that the government can deliver infrastructure.
While Mayors in America, France, and Spain all have significant fundraising powers, mayors in England are reliant on central grants for most of their funding.
Since funding and approval for new transport projects sits in Westminster, mayors are campaigners, not builders. They must generate publicity for their projects rather than having the power to actually build them.
The current model also raises construction costs because no one person is politically responsible for the project. Madrid saw a boom in metro building because their regional politicians could run on pledges of building new tracks and then had the power to approve, fund, and oversee their construction.
French mayors also demonstrate the power of giving local politicians the power to deliver transport upgrades. Their tram renaissance, with 21 cities building trams just this century, has been fuelled by mayors making electoral pledges and then having the power to deliver them.
To deliver the infrastructure Britain’s cities need, we need to empower metro mayors. We need to give them the ability to approve and fund their own projects. When France and Spain put local leaders in charge, systems got built quickly and cheaply, and voters rewarded the results.
The construction boom will boost productivity and raise living standards across the UK, while reducing the pressure on the Treasury to fund every single local project. The payoff is practical and popular: faster commutes, wider access to jobs, cleaner air, and visible progress on growth.
Mayors should be able to determine Transport and Works Act Orders and fund schemes with a mix of revenue-raising tools. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill should give metro mayors the ability to build the future.