Lincolnshire to get £262m to improve transport, says PM

A cabinet meeting happened at the Siemens train factory in Goole, East Yorkshire

Lincolnshire will get an extra £262m to spend on roads and public transport, the prime minister has announced.

Rishi Sunak said the money was from the scrapped northern leg of the HS2 rail project.

The Labour Party described the funding as a "reannouncement" and a "back-of-a-fag-packet plan".

Speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Breakfast Show, Mr Sunak also defended the decision to use the former RAF Scampton base to house asylum seekers.

"I absolutely understand the concerns of local communities about Scampton," he said.

"This will be done on a temporary basis."

The prime minister and other ministers held a cabinet meeting at the Siemens train factory in Goole, East Yorkshire.

Speaking about the transport investment, Mr Sunak described it as "an almost unprecedented increase" in funding for local transport projects.

"This is money that has resulted because of the decision that I took on HS2 last year where I said the right priority for our country is actually something different," he said.

"So we've taken every penny of those billions that would have been spent on HS2 over the coming years. And [we have] reinvested it in the North and the Midlands on transport that people are much more relying on, that they believe should be prioritised."

The money will be spent on improving roads and public transport in Lincolnshire

Conservative county councillor Richard Davies, who is responsible for highways, said he welcomed the funding.

"Our rough estimate to get all of Lincolnshire's roads back up to the national standard would be approaching £400m," he said.

"But £262m over seven years would make a significant difference. It would clear a lot of the backlog, it would improve a lot of roads, it would enable us to work on junctions.

"The only problem is if the money is only for seven years we have to be careful about setting up new commitments," he said.

Labour's shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said communities were "sick and tired" of empty promises.

"The Tories have failed and local people are sick and tired of this government taking them for fools," she said.

"Only the Conservatives could have the brass neck to promise yet another transformation of transport infrastructure in the Midlands and North after 14 years of countless broken promises to do just that."

Analysis by Sharon Edwards, BBC Political Reporter

There are more than 5,000 miles of roads in Lincolnshire, enough to take you from Lincoln Cathedral to the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

The backlog in repairs is "approaching £400m", according to the county council portfolio holder Councillor Richard Davies.

Today the authority's being told it's getting £262m towards the cost, with the caveat that some could also go to public transport.

So context is key.

Three years ago the government cut Lincolnshire's roads maintenance funding by 25%, amounting to £12.5m a year equalling £37.5m to date.

Quite neatly, today's announcement promises £37.4m a year for seven years, so the first year would be putting back what has already been taken away.

And then there is the question of what this will actually buy. Anyone hoping for a new bypass will be disappointed. Such schemes cost around £200m each, according to the county council.

So it's back to filling potholes.

Then again, potholes are a key "doorstep issue" as politicians from all colours will tell you.