Rishi Sunak says government ‘squarely’ investing in Lincolnshire
Prime Minister[1] Rishi Sunak has insisted that Lincolnshire will benefit from the billions of pounds made available after the northern leg of High Speed 2 was scrapped. The cancellation of the northern phase of the scheme – which was a planned high-speed rail connection between Leeds, Birmingham, and London – has freed up £36 billion which the government aims to reinvest across the country.
A new scheme, called Network North, will see £19.8 billion reinvested in the North, £9.6 billion reinvested in the Midlands, and £6.5 billion spread across every other region in the country. In terms of rail improvements in Lincolnshire, Network North only includes a connection between Nottingham and Newark, leaving the county completely untouched.
This raised concerns[2] over whether the planned Castle Line improvements, between Lincoln and Nottingham, would still go ahead. Lincolnshire Live raised these concerns with the Prime Minister and asked how the government plans to improve Lincolnshire’s infrastructure moving forward.
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Mr Sunak said: “What we’re doing with Network North is taking every penny that would’ve been spent on HS2 and reinvesting it all around the country. Lincolnshire will benefit because the local area will get a transport settlement for the first ever time in the way that big cities do.
“A lot of our policy is always focused on the big cities and they get pots of money to spend on their transport priorities. I don’t see any reason why Lincolnshire shouldn’t be treated the same.
“Because we made the decision on HS2, Lincolnshire will now get a pot of money and they’re working out the exact allocation. Not only will they be getting extra money, it will be determined by local people and not by politicians sitting in Westminster.”
Lincolnshire is set to receive more than £4 million for bus service improvements as part of Network North. The North Hykeham Relief Road project is also marked to receive extra government funding.
The Prime Minister recently announced his ‘Long-Term Plan for Towns’ which will see Boston, Skegness and Spalding receive £20 million each[4] to be spent by local people. Lincolnshire Live spoke with Mr Sunak during a visit to a Boston school where he was joined by Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman.
Mr Sunak added: “More broadly I’d point out that, thanks to the incredible efforts of local MP Matt Warman, Lincolnshire has been successful in attracting significant investment from the government to help level up. Matt has done a great job in championing the needs of his constituents and you can see that in the Pilgrim Hospital as well with the new A&E.
“All that demonstrates is that the government is squarely investing in this region because we want to make life better for people.”
References
- ^ Prime Minister (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
- ^ raised concerns (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Get the latest Lincolnshire Live news with our email newsletters (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
- ^ £20 million each (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)