A ‘black hole’ in the budget for the West Midlands transport network has been mostly plugged, a West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) spokesperson has said. A projected £119.8m gap in the 2026/27 budget had been cut to £38.3m, with further measures to be put in place to reduce it further next year, according to the BBC,

Members of the WMCA Board were told a series of measures already taken had helped claw back the deficit.

An agreement to increase the transport levy that each of the seven local authorities has to pay by 3% and an increase in metro fares, approved at the same board meeting, has aided the reduction. Generating efficiencies and using flexibilities to transfer capital funding to revenue had also helped reduce the deficit.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said:

“I believe, with the fantastic work of officers, we’ve now got ourselves in a position where we have confidence where we have a budget that will balance and allow all of to focus in making a difference to our communities that we need to make.

“The government can have confidence in the way they plan and invest in our transport system.”

Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton added:

“I want to acknowledge how important this moment is in eliminating a deficit that has sat in this budget for a very long time.

“I joined the Combined Authority Board in May 2023 and it felt like every single meeting was concerned with this apparently irresolvable issue and I think this illustrates there has been a grip and control of finances and that’s no mean feat.”

(Picture: West Midlands Combined Authority)