New report urges transport devolution for British cities

British cities need greater control over transport planning, funding and infrastructure delivery to close the gap with European counterparts, according to a new report from Centre for Cities.

The paper, License to build: Delivering urban transport infrastructure through devolution, finds that France has added approximately 420 kilometres of tram and light rail since 2010, exceeding the 350 kilometres across Britain’s existing networks.

The contrast is particularly evident in Leeds, which has made 11 unsuccessful bids for a tram or trolleybus network over nearly four decades. More recently, proposals for bus rapid transit and a West Yorkshire metro have failed to secure government approval.

Rob Johnson, Senior Analyst at Centre for Cities and co-author of the report, told Cities Today that French cities benefit from denser urban development, stronger local financing powers and a more consistent approach to infrastructure delivery.

“France has built enough tram and light rail just in the last 15 years to completely eclipse all existing tram and light rail networks across Britain combined,” he said. “French cities have better conditions for mass transit networks: their denser urban form makes mass transit more viable because every tram stop will have higher passenger numbers and generate higher farebox revenue.”

Removing barriers

The report identifies four priorities for reform: stronger mayoral powers, a more predictable planning system, greater financial independence and increased capacity within mayoral strategic authorities.

“Reforming the planning system–so it is more rules-based and allows for less discretion–will reduce the uncertainty that puts projects behind schedule and over budget,” Johnson said.

The report highlights the West Midlands Metro extension to Birmingham Eastside, where the application for a Transport and Works Act order took three years and ran to 6,000 pages, excluding supplementary documents. Greater Manchester’s Metrolink extension to Trafford Park also required two years to secure government approval.

By comparison, France’s national tram design guidelines and established pipeline of projects help local authorities avoid repeatedly developing schemes from scratch.

“In France, a greater degree of fiscal devolution enables places to raise finance locally, meaning they rely less on central government funding for infrastructure improvements,” Johnson said.

He pointed to France’s versement transport payroll tax as an example of how cities can generate dedicated revenue for public transport.

The report recommends allowing British mayors to borrow against locally retained tax revenues, including business rates, while maintaining national borrowing safeguards.

“Evidence shows that British cities’ relatively poor transport connectivity is a bottleneck on their growth,” he said. “The size of the potential prize for economic development is large.”

He also suggested closer collaboration with the National Wealth Fund to share financial risks and strengthen local financial management capabilities, including reforming its lending facility to offer mayors terms more comparable to those available to private borrowers.

Lessons from Europe

Beyond France, Johnson highlighted Italy’s national cost and pricing schedules and Germany’s infrastructure delivery handbook as examples of central government helping cities deliver projects without controlling local decisions.

The report also calls for increased funding through the Mayoral Capacity Fund until 2028/29, alongside national light rail design standards and guidance on alternative delivery models.

Johnson said devolution could help address longstanding weaknesses in Britain’s approach to infrastructure.

“It shows it’s necessary that places have adequate devolved power, a rules-based planning system, adequate financial independence and the expertise to deliver projects that are strategically important to the local economy. That’s what Britain has been lacking, and what devolution can now put in place.”

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