Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 23
8th Report - Northern Powerhouse Rail
Published 1 Jul 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Northern Powerhouse Rail All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We are concerned that this partnership-based system is not clear on responsibilities and may not be robust enough for difficult trade-off decisions between local areas.48 For example, an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly would enable more development opportunities above the station than alternatives at surface level, but is expected to be more costly and could therefore reduce the budget available for additional development in other localities.49
From: Public Accounts Committee, 8th Report - Northern Powerhouse Rail (HC 97), 1 July 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 September 2026 (deadline 1 September 2026).