WIREDGOV

Statement giving notice that the department has drawn advances from the Contingencies Fund to enable expenditure on COVID-19 support packages (18 June 2020).

I hereby give notice of the Department for Transport having drawn advances from the Contingencies Fund totalling £7,000,000,000 to enable expenditure on COVID-19 support packages for transport to be spent ahead of the passage of the Supply and Appropriation Act.

The schemes include:

Emergency Measures Agreements with the Train Operating Companies; the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant; safeguarding critical ferry freight routes; and supporting regional transport networks such as Transport for London and light rail networks. Furthermore, the department brought forward the payment of local authority road maintenance grants announced in the Budget. Barnett consequentials have already been applied in the usual way to any funding on top of the Department for Transport’s current budgets.

Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £5,253,000,000 and additional capital of £603,000,000 and £1,144,000,000 of cash will be sought in a Main Estimate for the Department for Transport. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £7,000,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

The cash advance will be repaid upon receiving Royal assent of the Supply and Appropriation Bill.