Dft underspends budget by £1bn

The Department for Transport has been slammed by the House of Commons Transport Committee and the AA for underspending its budget by more than £1billion last year. Civil servants were able to channel £486million of the left over money into transport projects before the year’s end, but the department was forced to hand back £543million to the Treasury. 

The underspend came during a year when the DfT had already accepted a £683million budget cut.

The figures were highlighted in a report by the Transport Committee, which also criticised the department for its spending being “unduly focused” on London and south east England.

The authors of the report stated: “We were surprised to learn that the Department had ended up in a position where it was required to return over £500million to the Treasury,” adding that the amount was more than the estimated cost for the entire Northern Hub project – a proposal to revamp the train network in northern England to stimulate the economy.

The report went on to say: “Put another way, the DfT accepted a cut to its in-year budget of £683million and then underspent on its revised budget by over £1billion, calling into question whether the in-year cut was necessary.”

An AA spokesman said: “Motorists are going to be pretty cross that at a time when the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates it will cost over £10bn to fix our roads – and the lights are being switched off on A-roads and motorways to save money – the DfT is handing back half a billion pounds.

“We’re already on the path to a transport crisis because of underfunding. The DfT can’t afford to not use what resources it’s given.”

A DfT spokesman said: “The level of underspend only became apparent towards the end of the year, and could not have been predicted earlier.

“Infrastructure investment across the UK is key to growth, which is why we have committed over £1.4billion for 41 local transport schemes outside London, in addition to £1billion of new investment by Network Rail and over £1billion for the strategic road network. We have also outlined our vision for a new national high-speed rail network connecting north and south.

“However we cannot ignore the fact that London is the biggest city in the UK and a global capital supporting a large number of people who commute from outside the region.”