LEEDS NEW GENERATION TRANSPORT TROLLEYBUS

That this House believes that Department for Transport (DfT) funding should be approved for the New Generation Transport (NGT) trolleybus in Leeds so that construction can commence without delay; recognises the central importance of increasing the economic productivity of Leeds because of its vital and substantial contribution to the Northern economy; considers the scheme to have many significant economic and environmental benefits to the local community, as it will result in a calculated 5.90 benefit for every 1 of Government funding, a projected forecast increase in the annual gross domestic productof Leeds City Centre of 176 million (almost three per cent), the creation of an additional 4,000 city centre jobs and a further 250 for running the network and a substantial reduction to the city's congestion levels and carbon footprint; notes that continued delay in providing funding to the NGT scheme will result in further cost increases; further notes the inadequacy of the current system in that Leeds is currently the largest city in Europe without light rail or an underground system; and calls on the Government to ensure that, if DfT funding is not forthcoming for the NGT trolleybus, equivalent funding is made available for an alternative light rail based solution and that the North is not ignored, as it has been by successive governments, but gets a modern integrated transport system, fit for the 21st century.