Geoff Hoon – Secretary of State for Transport – will not be able to make the final decision on whether the extensions of Nottingham Express Transit to Beeston, Chilwell and Clifton will get the go-ahead. This decision has been made because Mr Hoon’s impartiality might be called into question as he discussed the matter with a constituent by letter before he moved to the DfT (Mr Hoon is MP for Ashfield).
The decision on the matter now rests with Transport Minister, Paul Clark. It is expected that a decision on the extensions will be made soon and following this a decision will also be made on whether the controversial Workplace Parking Levy will be approved or denied.
Alan Simpson, MP for Nottingham South, said: “I think it's right Geoff isn't going to take this decision. You shouldn't have a politician making a choice when they could be accused of having a vested interest. What Paul Clark and his officials have to understand though is that this issue has been around for a very long time; it's appeared in Labour manifestos since 2001 and been consulted to death. They must approve everything together because if you don't have the WPL you don't have the second tram line; if you don't have the tram line you don't have the dualling of the A453. It's all linked."
Source: This is Nottingham