Responding to the Labour manifesto launched today – Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Director General, Tom Foulkes, said:
21st Century Infrastructure
“Labour’s manifesto rightly acknowledges that long term investment in UK infrastructure will play a key role in our economic recovery and in creating the industries for the future. However questions still remain over how this investment can be raised and maintained. A Green Investment Bank is a positive step, but the UK will need to invest £40-50bn per annum in infrastructure so a starting fund of just £2bn falls well short of what will be required.
“More needs to be done to attract long term private funds into the important infrastructure projects the Government is paving the way for - from High Speed Rail through to a new generation of power stations. We still believe a more ambitiously sized National Infrastructure Investment Bank, able to draw on domestic and international capital markets and pension funds, would better attract the scale of investment needed.”
Roll-out of Smart Meters
“ICE backs measures that encourage consumers to think more carefully about their use of vital resources. Smart metering will provide the public with the information they need to make more informed choices about their energy and water use. More efficient usage will not only save customers money but will help reduce UK carbon emissions.”
Aim to achieve 40% low-carbon electricity by 2020 and create 400,000 new green jobs by 2015.
“Labour’s vision for low carbon electricity generation is welcome, but considering the UK’s track record, could be viewed as over ambitious. Less than 2% of energy is currently generated from renewables.
“To replace even 15% of the UK’s energy generation with renewable sources by 2020 will require rapid up-scaling of the renewables sector. In particular, the large scale expansion of the offshore wind industry, which has the potential to meet a significant proportion of the UK’s energy demands.
“In order to ensure that the near inevitable shortfall in renewables does not leave British households and industry vulnerable to power cuts it is essential that a new fleet of nuclear power stations is approved and built. Coal power stations must also be adapted and carbon capture storage implemented. It is vital that we diversify the mix and reduce our dependency on foreign sources of power.
“Development on this scale presents many challenges - not least ensuring the UK has the right skills base to deliver these results.”
ENDS
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was founded in 1818 to ensure professionalism in civil engineering. It represents 80,000 qualified and student civil engineers in the UK and across the globe. The ICE has long worked with the government of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy and UK exports.