Hammond pledges to “fire up” Northern Powerhouse projects

Today the Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered a budget in what he said “paves the way for a brighter future.”

For the future of the North, more specifically the Northern Powerhouse, Hammond announced that the Conservative government is ready to “fire up” the progress in these regions.

The Chancellor announced that The Transforming Cities Fund, which aims to “address weaknesses in city transport systems in order to raise productivity and spread prosperity”, will receive a boost of £2.4bn.

There will also be an additional £37m of development funding for the Northern Powerhouse Rail, which is a cross-pennine rail links between northern cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Sheffield and Hull.

A further £10m will be allocated for a new pilot in Manchester to support the self-employed acquire new skills, and £90m is being earmarked to trail “new models of smart transport” including on-demand buses.

These projects for the North are part of the government’s devolution agenda, which “is giving power back to the people,” according to Hammond.