NORTHWEST: £1,245M
- 16 schemes over the next three years;
- conditional approval, subject to control of £540M cost, for Metrolink extensions to Oldham and Rochdale, Tameside and Chorlton;
- simultaneous ‘big bang’ procurement of a second £450M phase, including East Didsbury and the airport, requires a successful TIF bid next year.
Greater Manchester’s leaders declared their campaign to get Metrolink ‘back on track’ a success. TIF bid will include other transport improvements.

NORTHEAST: £457M<
- 11 schemes over the next three years;
- only region with no new approvals;
- major Tyne & Wear Metro programme to be developed for TIF/PFI bid.
New funding criteria to ‘reflect economic development needs, employment and social inclusion would bring significantly higher levels of funding to the Northeast,’ said Cllr Mick Henry, chair of the councils’ association.

YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE: £927M<
- 23 schemes over the next three years, including five new approvals;
- Yorcard multi-modal smartcard pilot to go live in spring 2007;
- alternatives to Supertram extensions in Sheffield needed;
- Leeds bus transit earmarked for post-2009.
‘Our work to get a fairer share of national transport funding will continue,’ said assembly chair, Peter Box.

WEST MIDLANDS: £979M<
- 23 schemes over the next three years, including three new schemes;
- Hertfordshire’s Rotherwas access road and Wolverhampton station do not offer sufficient value for money;
- Birmingham New Street, Midland Metro expansion, and Shrewsbury’s northwest relief road depend on Transport Innovation Fund bids.
‘The news is not so good for the railways, and once again our rural areas lose out,’ said assembly chairman Cllr David Smith. The ‘£90M-a-year pot’ could never deliver strategic improvements.

EAST MIDLANDS: £800M<
- 17 schemes over the next three years, including one newly approved; - contribution of less well-advanced schemes to transport integration should be considered; - £220M A46 Newark to Widmerpool scheme delay accepted but no further slippage. Assembly chair, Cllr David Parsons, welcomed approvals, but was disappointed over no new funding for the A46.

EAST: £1,040M<
- 13 schemes over the next three years, including one newly approved;
- Southend major scheme on hold, pending decision on major cost;
- value for money of Croxley rail link will need ‘careful consideration’ after 2009.
‘Much more investment will be needed if we are to ensure that new housing and jobs are delivered sustainably,’ said regional planning panel chair Cllr John Reynolds.

SOUTHEAST: £1,522M<
- 18 schemes over the next three years, including one new approval;
- all roads-based;
- inclusion of previously-approved schemes without reappraisal left little headroom for new schemes.
‘Funding a nationally-important scheme regionally will delay investment elsewhere in the region,’ said assembly chairman, Cllr Keith Mitchell.

SOUTHWEST: £951M<
- 10 schemes over the next three years, including two new schemes;
- overspend and funding pressure from second strategic route (A30/A303/A358);
- early priority given to city schemes, but some not yet well developed;
- five previously-backed schemes dropped.
Assembly leaders welcomed the DfT’s interest in its proposals for a regional infrastructure fund.