Examination of Witnesses

Part of High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:56 am on 9 July 2013.

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Sir Richard Leese: There are a number of things that connectivity is important for. I will preface that by saying that there is lots of evidence that there are two prerequisites for building a modern economy—one is knowledge and skills and the other is connectivity.

Notwithstanding the growth in high-speed broadband—although in this country it is not very high speed—all the evidence is that improved digital connectivity increases  the propensity to travel; it does not reduce it. It is about getting people to work, goods to market and people to meet with each other and about the normal range of business activity, which, at the moment, we have limited capacity to do.

Apart from the positive benefits that will come out of that improved connectivity—our estimate is about £1 billion per annum in improved gross value added for the north of England—it is also what would happen if we did not have that improved connectivity. The alternative is that we would see increased congestion on the railways and on the M6 and the M62, which are pretty much full to capacity at the moment. It will be not a standstill for the northern economy, but a decline for the northern economy if we do not get that improved connectivity.