It's far from the first time that readers of The MJ will have heard calls for greater devolution of powers and funding from Whitehall to town halls, as well as an increase in funding for local infrastructure.

But the National Infrastructure Commission's latest report is unambiguous in its conclusion that a shift away from a multiplicity of competitive pots towards five-year devolved budgets is the only sensible way to manage how transport investment supports levelling up across English towns.