Nick Fletcher, Conservative MP for Don Valley, has spoken in parliament today claiming the Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, is prioritising transport spending on Sheffield rather than in Doncaster.
Mr Fletcher asked the government to send a message to the Mayor to spend the money wisely and spend it across South Yorkshire, rather than just Sheffield.
Mr Fletcher said: “The Labour Mayor has been given colossal sums of money from this government.
Sadly, it appears he chooses to spend this on Sheffield’s Supertrams and Sheffield’s transport infrastructure – and not Doncaster’s.”
THIS SY MAYOR MUST STOP BEING MR. SHEFFIELD
We have seen £23m of taxpayers money for Doncaster being siphoned off to #Sheffield. That went to #SheffieldsSupertrams. Another expensive and wasteful #VanityProject for Sheffield.
This is unfair and simply wrong. I raised this in… pic.twitter.com/zxhvB0vV7p
— Nick Fletcher MP (@NickFletcherMP) May 16, 2024
Mr Fletcher claims £23 million of taxpayers money from Doncaster has been ‘siphoned’ off to Sheffield.
However, Mr Fletcher added on social media:
“I accept that if Sheffield want to have Supertrams then they can do so. It should not be at the expense of everyone else in South Yorkshire.”
Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, responded in parliament and said: “It’s obviously up to the Mayor about how they spend the money, but I would have expected them to spend it fairly across the entire region they represent.”
Oliver Coppard was recently reelected as the Mayor of the South Yorkshire combined authority, which includes both Sheffield and Doncaster.
On March 22nd 2024, South Yorkshire Supertram returned to public control after nearly 30 years.
Mr Fletcher has been MP for Don Valley since 2019 and is the first Conservative to ever represent the seat.
The Mayor has not yet responded to Mr Fletcher’s claims.