March Budget to address complaints spending is skewed in favour of capital and South-east

Doubts about whether Crossrail 2 will go ahead have been raised after the government said it plans to rewrite its rules to permit greater investment in areas such as the north of England and the Midlands.

Last month, reports emerged the Treasury will change the method of evaluating the economic benefits of spending after years of complaints that the current system favours London and the South east.

caroline pidgeon

Government investment decisions are currently based on gross value added (GVA), a metric that assesses the net financial contribution of spending to the economy.

The new rules would introduce metrics to determine spending, such as improving the wellbeing of people in certain areas or reducing regional productivity gaps.

Caroline Pidgeon (pictured), the deputy chair of the London Assembly鈥檚 transport committee, told 黑洞社区: 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid I think Crossrail 2 is dead in the water for the next decade or two.

鈥淭he more I think about it and the new government, their agenda is about spending elsewhere in the country. I can鈥檛 see that they will fund another flagship project in London, until they鈥檝e funded some other key things elsewhere.鈥�

And a former head of the Treasury鈥檚 transport team admitted some big-ticket schemes in London and the South east will hit the buffers as taxpayers鈥� money is ploughed elsewhere.

鈥淢egaprojects 鈥� those that require large-scale investment 鈥� do have some question marks around them in the current climate,鈥� Lewis Atter, who swapped Whitehall for KPMG in 2004, said. 鈥淐hanges will likely need to be made, namely around expenditure.鈥�

Atter, who is now an associate partner leading on infrastructure strategy at the finance giant, added that changing the GVA rules had to happen to benefit the regions. He said: 鈥淭his is overdue. Tweaking the GVA rules is not the most important factor but it sends an important signal.鈥�

The new rules are expected to be announced in Chancellor Sajid Javid鈥檚 11 March budget and follow last month鈥檚 general election which saw many previously held Labour seats in the Midlands and northern England switch to the Tories.

Crossrail 2 has been contacted for comment.

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