Local Transport Grant for York and North Yorkshire
York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA), run by Mayor David Skaith, is distributing £15.4 million of Local Transport Grant to the two constituent councils. They are City of York Council (CYC) and North Yorkshire Council (NYC).
A report to an NYC Executive meeting on 15th July 2025 explains that there are three transport funding sources for the current financial year from April 2025 to the end of March 2026. They are:
- Local Transport Grant £15.4 million
- Integrated Transport Block £4.6 million
- Local Transport Resource Funding £0.77 million
Exactly when the money must be spent has not been made clear by the DfT, so YNYCA proposes that the capital grants be spent on schemes that can start construction by March 2026.
Public finances are tight at the moment, but in this case the distinct impression is that there is more cash than local authority capacity to deliver schemes.
Local Transport Grant
The DfT set out the sort of schemes for which the Local Transport Grant can be used. It should pay for ‘transformative and ambitious transport improvements’.
It can fund highway maintenance, local road improvements, bus infrastructure, drainage schemes or EV charging. Also on the list are accessibility and active travel, and public realm improvements.
YNYCA asked that the money should not be spent on highway maintenance or drainage except as a last resort.
The Combined Authority is keen on active travel. The report says (para 5.2):
‘The YNYCA Strategic Transport Framework commits to ensuring that active travel is a core part of an integrated transport network. In the long term this means a comprehensive network of lit, well-maintained walking, wheeling and cycle routes across the Combined Authority’.
YNYCA is happy for some of the funding to be used for feasibility studies and scheme designs, to develop a pipeline of schemes.
CYC
CYC is to get £7.5 million of the Local Transport Grant.
Among their schemes are School Streets and Copmanthorpe Active Travel Route to School. York Station Gateway is to get nearly £4 million, which appears to be additional funding on top of the original Transforming Cities Fund money.
Most of York’s schemes are low-risk and high-priority, and have full approval to proceed.
NYC
NYC’s total allocation is £11.3 million, but much of that is subject to further information before YNYCA is happy that the schemes will be ready to go ahead by March 2026.
That is true of the Transforming Cities Fund schemes in Harrogate, Skipton and Selby. In the case of Harrogate Station Gateway, the Combined Authority needs to see evidence that the legal challenge has been satisfactorily concluded.
The capital amounts allocated to CYC and NYC are more than the total of the Local Transport Grant, on the basis that some schemes will ‘fall by the wayside during the year as unexpected circumstances arise’.
As well as capital, CYC and NYC are to get £0.5 million each for transport planning, to develop a pipeline of schemes for delivery in future years.