Cash raised in London through the supplementary business rate (SBR), a local business levy, will go towards Crossrail rather than local projects, Alistair Darling announced this week.

The government had suggested a proportion of the fees may fund local schemes, but in Tuesday’s Comprehensive Spending Review, the chancellor announced the highest authority in each area will take charge of the SBR – in London this means the Greater London Authority, which is responsible for Crossrail.

The announcement comes after the £16bn Crossrail project was given the go-ahead by Gordon Brown last week. In his pre-Budget report, Darling said the overall transport budget would increase to £14.5bn a year. This will include funding for the trans-London railway line and projects to widen the M1 and M6.