Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, has welcomed news that over £238 million of reallocated HS2 funding is to be given to Leicestershire to improve local transport.
Leicestershire will receive £238,154,000 to improve the local transport connections that people rely on every day. Leicester City will receive £159m, bringing the total for the area to over £397m. Dr Evans says the funding means “people across Hinckley and Bosworth will benefit from transport improvements that matter most to them.”
The Local Transport Fund comes as part of the Conservative Government’s long-term plan to reallocate the £36 billion saved from HS2 Phase 2 directly into local transport improvements across the country – benefitting more people, in more places, more quickly than the full HS2 project would have done.
It is the first transport budget of its kind that is specifically targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas and empowers local people and local leaders to invest in the local transport projects that matter most to their communities.
Local authorities will receive the funding from April 2025, giving them time to develop their funding proposals and prepare to hit the ground running to start delivering them as early as possible. The Fund is to run from 2025 – 2032 and will be, on average, at least nine times more than these local authorities currently receive through the local integrated transport block which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements.
Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, said "I and other Leicestershire MPs have been lobbying Government for additional funding and we’re pleased to have secured over £238 million to transform transport in our area.
"This is on top of an above-inflation uplift to Leicestershire County Council finances of more than 7%, £3 million to fix potholes across Leicestershire and £1.78 million for a Bus Service Improvement Plan in our county.
"For Hinckley and Bosworth we have seen £19.9m for a Conservation and Education Centre at Twycross Zoo and £24m for a testing unit at Hinckley Hospital, both of which have recently been given the green light for building work to start. I am so proud to help deliver these much needed improvements for our area.
"I am so pleased all the work is paying off with such significant investment taking place right where we all live. I will continue to fight to deliver more!"
Mark Harper, Secretary of State for Transport, said “Today’s £4.7 billion investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across the North and the Midlands and is only possible because this Government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.
“This funding boost will make a real difference to millions of people, empowering local authorities to drive economic growth, transform communities, and improve the daily transport connections that people rely on for years to come.”
