Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire have been allocated more than £400 million of transport funding following the axing of HS2. But not a penny will be spent in the area until after the next general election.

The government announced last year that HS2 would be cancelled north of Birmingham, with the billions of pounds saved being redirected to smaller transport projects across the country. Ministers have now revealed how £4.7 billion from the 'Local Transport Fund' will be divided among smaller cities and towns in the North and Midlands over a seven year period up to 2032.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been allocated £134 million for the period, while Staffordshire County Council is set to receive £285 million – but none of it will be available to spend until April 2025, with the next general election due to take place no later than January. The government says this will give councils 'enough time to develop their funding plans and prepare to hit the ground running'.

Building new roads, installing mass transit systems and filling in potholes are among the transport schemes the money could be spent on. Councils will be issued further guidance on how the funding can be used 'in due course'.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride visited Stoke Station on Monday to discuss the Local Transport Fund (LTF) allocation with city MPs and officials. When quizzed about why the government had only decided to redirect HS2 funding last year after backing the project for over a decade, Mr Stride insisted that people in Stoke-on-Trent would not have to wait long to see the money make more of a difference locally.

Staffordshire County Council Deputy Leader, Councillor Philip White and Cabinet Office minister John Glen MP (Cabinet Office).

He said: "The HS2 funding wasn't going to all arrive tomorrow, it was going to be spread out through time and that's the approach being taken here. But I think the big advantage is that local authority here will be able to plan on the basis of seven years of payments going into the future. They know the total amount. What we're looking for now is a clear outline of what plans are for the first year, to be delivered by the autumn.

"This will make a huge difference in terms of intra-regional connectivity, which from my department's point of view, is going to be really important in terms of boosting jobs, both the number of jobs and their quality, helping people get to where those jobs are.

"We took the decision [to cancel HS2] on the basis that you get much more return, social benefit, jobs, etc, if you get this money into services in and around communities, as opposed to this big single project. What we've made clear is that every penny that was going to be spent on HS2 will go to the parts of the country that it was going to be supporting."

The government says that the LFT will mean that, on average, local authorities will have nine times more funding then they currently receive through the integrated transport block. In Stoke-on-Trent's case it will be around 11 times more – £19.1 million a year compared to £1.7 million.

Jack Brereton, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, believes the LFT cash will make a much bigger difference to Stoke-on-Trent than HS2. He said: "The cancellation of HS2 has freed up this cash to invest in things that people actually want and need, which is local public transport. That is what people say to me – they want local connectivity, whether that be roads, buses, local rail services. This money will make a huge difference in helping people get around the city and the whole of Staffordshire."

Mr Brereton believes pothole repairs and improving town centre pavements to help boost local shops should be among the priorities for the funding in Stoke-on-Trent.

The government has announced Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire's allocations from the Local Transport Fund (Nub News).

Maria Machancoses, CEO of Midlands Connect, also welcomed the announcement. She said: "We welcome this announcement and the improvements it will bring for our communities and businesses across the Midlands, and we will continue to work with government and support our local authorities."

The government has described the LFT cash as an 'unprecedented long-term funding uplift' and the first transport budget of its kind specifically targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas. But Labour has dismissed the government's LTF announcement as a 'back of the fag packet plan'

Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh tweeted: "How many more times can they promise the North 'transformation' when they have no intention whatsoever to deliver? Their record speaks for itself: record delays and cancellations on the rail network, 22 million more potholes, record-breaking collapse in bus routes."

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