Good public transport, walking and cycling provision remains vital to the success of the Government’s central economic growth mission and those missions surrounding it – breaking down barriers to opportunities, accelerating towards net zero and keeping people safe and healthy.
The past year has seen considerable progress in laying the foundations that enable transport authorities to bolster their role as key catalysts for achieving policy missions across Government. Throughout, the Urban Transport Group has delivered purposeful, influential policy work to evidence the need for change and to enable our members to continue their vital work.
Greater funding certainty
A year ago, ahead of the Autumn Budget, we highlighted the urgent fiscal imperative to confirm core transport funding or risk undermining the opportunity for our city regions to play their full part in the delivery of the Government’s wider missions. The Autumn Budget heeded this call, with £1 billion worth of funding for buses and a commitment to City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, helping to protect vital bus services and acting as a crucial bridge ahead of the Spending Review.
UTG provided a comprehensive evidence submission on behalf of its members in the run up to the Spending Review, as summarised in our report The pathway to a brighter transport future: Invest and grow. The report also set out what city region authorities have achieved using devolved powers and funding, as well as their ambitions to go further in supporting their people and places through better transport. It encouraged the Government to provide authorities with long-term funding certainty to enable them to invest and grow, supporting wider government missions.
The Chancellor subsequently announced £15.6 billion of funding for local transport projects in England’s city regions, supporting many of the ambitions set out in our Invest and grow report. Together with measures in the Spending Review itself, city regions have longer term funding certainty that will help deliver vital local transport schemes and services, spurring economic growth.
Devolution of powers and funding
English transport devolution, both in terms of powers and funding, is beginning to deliver real change across our city regions. It is bringing decision making closer to the communities served, using local knowledge to target investment and maximise its impact for local people and businesses. Examples are included in our report The pathway to a brighter transport future: Delivering growth through transport devolution, as well as priorities for next steps in the devolution journey.
The ongoing roll-out of Integrated Settlements is particularly important. The local settlements will consolidate budgets across housing, regeneration, local growth, local transport, skills, retrofit and employment support into a single flexible pot, giving authorities the freedom to choose where investment is targeted.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, introduced into Parliament in Summer 2025, offers the opportunity for city region authorities to further unlock the power of devolution to better serve their people and places. UTG will work closely with Government to realise the benefits of devolution.
More local control over bus services
The landmark Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, now reaching the final stages of its journey through Parliament, will ensure local leaders across the country can more easily enhance or take control of local bus services. In doing so, they can shape these services to meet the needs and ambitions of communities whilst also maximising synergies with local plans for transport, economic growth and development.
The Bill addresses many of the issues highlighted in our 2023 report Reviewing the Bus Services Act 2017 to empower local areas. In doing so, it will allow more authorities to follow the example of Greater Manchester where local control of bus services has seen patronage increase by 14% year on year; punctuality regularly exceeding 80% (compared to around 66% previously); more residents connected to opportunity; and a renewed, greener fleet of buses.
The latest transport statistics also paint an encouraging picture, with passenger numbers across bus, rail and light rail now approaching pre-pandemic levels, according to analysis from our annual Inside track report, launched at the Houses of Parliament earlier this year.
The challenge for the year ahead is to build on what has been achieved and create the conditions that enable this growth to continue by ensuring that local leaders can maximise the potential of devolved powers and funding.
Key upcoming milestones that should support this ambition include:
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The publication of a new Integrated National Transport Strategy which we hope will support local leaders to use their devolved powers to drive better outcomes for their communities aligned with local priorities as well as cross-government missions.
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The launch of another landmark piece of transport legislation in the form of the Railways Bill. The Bill will create a new statutory role for Mayors in governing, managing, planning and developing the rail network, ensuring greater alignment with local ambitions. This should help to ensure local rail devolution and partnerships truly deliver on their promise to place local people and places at the heart of decision making. Our report Harnessing the opportunity of our local railways sets out the principles that we believe should be the foundation of this new and potentially transformative role for local leaders on rail.
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Implementation of the first Integrated Settlements in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, paving the way for others to follow with their own packages of devolved, simplified, long-term funding driven by local priorities.
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The continuing journey of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill through Parliament and beyond, maintaining momentum on devolution including greater access to local investment levers that enable money raised locally to be invested locally.
Fundamentally, city regions must have both the support and funding they need to deliver on their transformative ambitions. Devolution isn’t just about the transfer of powers - it’s about enabling success.
The UTG network is growing – this year alone we welcomed East Midlands Combined County Authority and York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority as new members. Our members cover the largest urban areas in the UK. Together, they serve over 30 million people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Together, we will continue to advocate for the powers and funding our members need as vital catalysts for change, using transport as an indispensable tool to deliver economic growth and transform lives.
Discover our Party Conference activity
Party Conferences 2025 - Our programme
From fringe events with Centre for Cities and the Railway Industry Association, to transport receptions co-hosted with Northern Powerhouse Partnership, we're bringing together high profile speakers to discuss how transport can deliver real benefits to communities across the UK.
Read more about Party Conferences 2025 - Our programme