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<p>Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s
Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. These provide statistical allocations
of public spending according to where the benefits of that spend are accrued.</p><p>
</p><p>The latest CRA statistics, published by Treasury in November 2017, present
data up to 2016-17 and are published at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis</a>.</p><p>
</p><p>The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations
including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in
the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government
Departments including devolved administrations.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The
most recent statistics up to 2016/17 are presented in the table below. These show
total public expenditure on national railways by region, and reflect the levels of
both ‘capital’ and ‘current’ (resource) expenditure.</p><p> </p><p>It is important
to note however that it is challenging, when talking about a system or network such
as the railway, to accurately break down regional spending in a meaningful way.</p><p>
</p><p>As a network, where the expenditure takes place on the railway is not always
an accurate reflection of where the benefits are felt. An investment in one part of
the country may improve the journeys of all the people passing through that area,
providing network benefits that, whilst difficult to account for, are spread beyond
the immediate region concerned. For example, improvements to the rail network in Birmingham
can benefit services all the way from Edinburgh to Penzance.</p><p> </p><p>The life-spans
of railway assets also present a challenge when considering the regional spread of
infrastructure funding at any single point in time. The 25-40 year lives of some assets
naturally mean that there will be a cyclical nature to replacing them that does not
lend itself to an even split of funding across all regions within say a five year
period. For example whilst a project like Crossrail has recently caused a spike in
expenditure concentrated in London during construction, significant enhancement work
on the West Coast Main Line was completed towards the end of the 2000s, meaning that
further significant spend on that line could be expected to occur not over the past
five years but in future periods[MS1] .</p><p> </p><p>Regarding spend in London, London
has a substantial number of daily commuters and visitors, both domestically and internationally,
who will be using and benefitting from the public transport networks in London but
who aren’t residents in London. The unique scale and urban density of London by comparison
to other parts of the country also means that it is particularly adapted to large
scale public transport networks. Key parts of the rail network serve as international
travel ‘hubs’ for the whole of the country. For geographic reasons, many of these
are concentrated in London and the South East, for example, the UK's sole rail link
to continental Europe (via St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel[MS2] ).<strong>Total
annual public sector expenditure on railways (£millions, nominal)</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East
of England</p></td><td><p>426</p></td><td><p>557</p></td><td><p>1,017</p></td><td><p>883</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East
Midlands</p></td><td><p>201</p></td><td><p>197</p></td><td><p>444</p></td><td><p>332</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>3,870</p></td><td><p>4,149</p></td><td><p>5,774</p></td><td><p>6,796</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North
East</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>185</p></td><td><p>258</p></td><td><p>291</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North
West</p></td><td><p>893</p></td><td><p>758</p></td><td><p>1,476</p></td><td><p>1,262</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South
East</p></td><td><p>702</p></td><td><p>728</p></td><td><p>1,395</p></td><td><p>1,816</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South
West</p></td><td><p>215</p></td><td><p>226</p></td><td><p>481</p></td><td><p>750</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West
Midlands</p></td><td><p>394</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>932</p></td><td><p>872</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire
and The Humber</p></td><td><p>609</p></td><td><p>391</p></td><td><p>937</p></td><td><p>741</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Northern
Ireland</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>82</p></td><td><p>94</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>965</p></td><td><p>849</p></td><td><p>1,045</p></td><td><p>1,223</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>392</p></td><td><p>427</p></td><td><p>610</p></td><td><p>517</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Outside
UK</p></td><td><p>72</p></td><td><p>85</p></td><td><p>78</p></td><td><p>103</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total
Expenditure</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> 8,992 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>
9,134 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> 14,529 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> 15,681
</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em><sup>1</sup></em><em>Due to the reclassification
of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015/16, care should be taken when making
historical comparisons.</em></p><p> </p><p>[MS1]From evidence to the TSC</p><p>[MS2]From
previous PQs.</p>
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