Dudley Council leader says mayor should 'find promised HS2 cash'

Speaking at April’s meeting of Dudley’s full council, Cllr Patrick Harley said the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), headed by Mayor Parker, should have an extra £200m to share after phase two of the high-speed rail link was cancelled in 2023.

The WMCA’s membership includes city councils and metropolitan borough councils like Dudley from around the region.

Cllr Harley said: “There is a shortfall on what was agreed when HS2 was curtailed of about £200m.

“It’s no good the combined authority saying that money isn’t or wasn’t there, we have letters from the-then government ministers and civil servants.

“These letters and emails state that £200m was there and it’s about time the current mayor got to grips with the civil servants and got that money back for the West Midlands and for Dudley.”

The second phase of the project would have linked the north of England with London but was cancelled after cost spiralled for phase one up to as much as £80bn, nearly twice original estimates.

Following cancellation £4.7bn was allocated by the then Conservative government for regional projects.

Cllr Harley, who was wearing a spectacular jacket he won in an auction at the annual mayor’s ball, looked for reasons why other WMCA councils may believe Dudley is doing better than it may appear.

During a discussion on planned new funding from the WMCA for adult education courses councillors welcomed the changes but one councillor raised a concern about how cash is distributed.

Cllr Ian Kettle said: “There is a huge variance when it comes to the allocation of money for further education from the combined authority.

“Dudley fares very badly when it comes to sharing out of the money.

“We are the second largest borough in the combined authority, I believe we should be entitled to about 12.3 percent of the budget – which we have never had.”

Cllr Harley told councillors funding is skewed by the amount Dudley gets for the construction of the Midlands Metro tram link.

He added: “If we include that colleagues probably do think we have had our fair share.”