'Take East seriously', mayor warns government

Paul Bristow warns the government will be making "a costly mistake" if it does not invest in upgrading Ely junction

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has warned the government not to take the region for granted.

Paul Bristow says the lack of any mention of improving the Ely rail junction in this month's spending review threatens to undermine the region's ambitions for growth and could "demonstrate the East is not being taken seriously".

The government has announced plans to spend £725bn on infrastructure projects over the next decade but so far has said nothing about upgrading the two key rail junctions at Ely in Cambridgeshire and Haughley in Suffolk.

Government sources have told the BBC that a lot of funding has already been announced for the East and more is likely to follow.

Five different lines converge at Ely North junction. Improving track and signalling would allow more passenger and freight services to run

For some time both the business community and local politicians have described the need to improve Ely and Haughley junctions as "the big ask" for the region.

There is now surprise and frustration that in the flurry of spending announcements this month nothing has been said about the two projects, leading to fears that they may have, once again, been ignored.

Bristow, a directly elected mayor whose job is to oversee economic growth in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, says the region is a place of "innovation and world-changing breakthroughs".

"But if the government thinks success can be taken for granted they are making a costly mistake."

He points to more than £400m of rail spending given to rail upgrades in the north of England, pointing out that the investment would return £2.50 for every pound spent, while the Ely improvements would return nearly £5.

"Nobody doubts the north needs investment (but) when government invests it should do so with value for money in mind. Not funding Ely junction would further demonstrate the East is not being taken seriously."

MP Charlotte Cane said improving Ely junction would be "a glaringly obvious win"

The Liberal Democrat MP for Ely, Charlotte Cane, has also spoken out, saying "the government's failure to fund the Ely junction upgrade is both economically short-sighted and inexcusable".

"The chancellor must stop stalling and get this project back on track and fully funded without further delay," she said.

The former mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, James Palmer, who now runs the business lobby group Eastern Powerhouse, told the Politics East programme: "I know for a fact that the previous transport secretary backed Ely junction, we know that Labour in opposition campaigned in favour of Ely junction.

"We get the first spending review of this new government and Ely has disappeared off the face of the map again.

"Who is actually making the decisions?"

More spending expected

Ipswich MP Jack Abbott says the region has already received a lot of new funding and suggests that more will follow

Government MPs have been keen to stress that the East has already done well out of the spending review, with money for East West rail, Sizewell C, the lower Thames crossing and two regeneration projects in Peterborough.

Jack Abbott, the MP for Ipswich, who is also the government's so called 'mission champion', recently told Look East: "We have seen some really big ticket funding announcements along with a big up lift in day-to-day spending for the police, NHS and local government."

He said more spending announcements would follow.

Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, raised Ely junction in Parliament this week, telling the Treasury Minister Darren Jones: "The project would help not only my constituency but dozens in the east of England, and help drive economic growth in our part of the world."

Jones encouraged him to talk to transport ministers about the scheme, saying: "We are absolutely in the business for high value-for-money cases that unlock growth and opportunity in every part of the country."

I understand that the Department for Transport plans to announce long-term spending plans for capital projects in July along with a proposed timetable for delivery.

Sources tell me there will be more money for rail projects but will not confirm if Ely or Haughley are on the list.

At £500m, Ely junction is expensive and complicated but publicly and privately local MPs and the business community are continuing to make their case in the hope that after more than 25 years of campaigning this scheme will move forward.