Transport cash 'spent elsewhere'
Tuesday 05 February 2013
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EmailCash-strapped councils may spend public transport funds on other projects, MPs warned yesterday.
The public accounts committee called for tighter checks to ensure funding councils receive and revenue from car parking charges is spent on transport schemes in the area.
The Department for Transport hands over £2.2 billion to fund local schemes but £1.2bn of that is not ring-fenced and could be spent on any capital project, MPs found.
Transport union RMT general secretary Bob Crow said it was unsurprising that councils were stopping bus routes when money that should be spent on these lifeline services was being used to prop up gaps elsewhere in council budgets.
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