Philip Hammond is under pressure this week to give more information on cuts to the transport budget. The Runnymede and Weybridge MP evaded finalising the minimum age for free bus passes on the BBC Radio 4 show Any Questions. He has also come under fire for sacrificing affordable rail fares for "investment in the railways", the BBC website claimed last week.
Coalition demands to find 25-40 per cent cuts in all government departments have hit the DfT particularly hard. Hammond is caught in a back-track on Cameron's much-publicised protection of bus passes for the elderly. In the TV debates, the PM promised "we will....keep the free bus pass," prompting scorn from shadow transport secretary Sadiq Khan who criticised the turn around as causing "anxiety" for elderly people. Even Boris has argued against the plans.
His railway investment plans have also been knocked. Current fares set at one per cent above the RPI rate may go up if the system is changed. Hammond said it would be "irresponsible" not to hike prices up during the downturn, citing it is a difficult choice. But again the index has not been confirmed.
A favourite to move into the Treasury in May, Hammond was instead appointed to transport — a surprise considering his lack of prior communication with the department, trade unions or transport operators. The Sun's Kevin MacKenzie once stated that Hammond had refused to support his opposition to a rise in car parking charges at Weybridge railway station. His own commuter costs came under scrutiny in the expenses scandal.
Jonathan Dimbleby accused Hammond on Question Time on Friday of "knowing where cuts would come" as far back as the manifesto launch. He was suspicious of the government's inability to state which transport schemes would be scrapped or set back, claiming that certain facts had been concealed in the election campaign. Ministers were due to outline their department’s spending cuts last week to Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury. The final spending plans will be released on 20 October.