Measuring the quality of the UK's infrastructure

Prepared by the Institution of Civil Engineers and New Civil Engineer magazine

Category	G	Change	Comment	Action needed	SG
Overall	C-	Declining	The government is still far from delivering its promised better public infrastructure. We still see a myriad of half policies and over-promised spending plans. Considering the current Labour majority, we still lack vital, bold actions to enable better infrastructure to be delivered. Public transport remains characterised by delay, unreliability and inaccessibility. Road transport is congested and continues to kill people at an alarming rate. The future of energy supply is moving rapidly towards crisis as government backs away from tough decisions between nuclear and under-developed renewable options. Notable exceptions include the water supply and flood management industries, which have begun to deliver tangible and cost effective improvements in quality of service to the public. The rail industry, although again suffering a serious fatal crash, is showing signs of recovery and is reorganising its management structure to deliver the longawaited decent modern service. However, infrastructure remains too far down the political agenda to effectively compete against health and education for limited public funds. The creation of a better, more sustainable urban and rural environment is still, therefore, largely a political aspiration.	Long term thinking and leadership is needed from this government to create policies and drive the delivery of the infrastructure improvements desperately needed to create the modern environment demanded by society and business. Priorities must include a decision on how we will generate our future power, how we will deal with the growing waste mountain and clarification on how regeneration of urban areas and of local transport will be funded. Politicians must risk short-term unpopularity to achieve long term sustainable, efficient and reliable benefits. All government departments must become more aware of their impact on the nation’s environment.	C-
Trunk roads and motorways	C+	Improving	Congestion is unacceptable on key sections of the UK’s road network. Traffic volumes on UK roads have increased in the last year partly due to a shift of freight back from rail but also due to greater economic activity. Government’s recent targeted road programme has successfully delivered effective and environmentally sensitive improvements to the network and shown that roads can be constructed with local support. However the network is not yet complete and Government’s latest series of multimodal studies are not delivering the rapid improvements expected by local communities. Although increased maintenance spending has helped to improve the surface condition of the trunk roads and motorways in England, the proportion of the network requiring more serious structural repairs is increasing. In Wales the situation is worse as maintenance targets are not being met and in Scotland the network’s age makes repair more challenging. Yet within the government’s 10-year spending plan there is no maintenance programme sufficient to ensure the long-term structural condition of the UK’s trunk road network.	More trunk road and motorway capacity is still needed in the UK to tackle congestion at key locations, through both new construction and greater use of existing capacity. Action is needed from government to create incentives and to invest in infrastructure to encourage freight back onto the railways. The private sector must be encouraged to continue to invest in the construction and maintenance of the network contracts. Government must involve all departments in the debate over reducing the need to travel and to transport goods in the UK.	C
Rail	C-	Declining	Potters Bar plunged the rail industry into despondency and focused attention on the condition of infrastructure highlighting fundamental problems with maintenance contract management. However structural reforms have been made to management since Railtrack went into administration that will accelerate once Network Rail takes control. The Strategic Rail Authority published its strategy to renew track, boost safety and complete overdue projects such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the West Coast Modernisation. Improvements are being made to the network and investment continues to climb to nearly £2bn a year. Renewal, maintenance and new construction compete equally for space to work on the network. Maintenance and renewal are taking priority since the Hatfield crash. The increase in both passenger and freight traffic has also hindered progress and prompted an increase in line shutdowns to accelerate work. The role of the private sector is increasingly targeted towards new enhancements leaving the SRA and public cash to run and maintain the network. Light rail schemes still lag behind public demand. Private companies will take over maintenance and renewal of infrastructure on London’s Underground later this year.	Network Rail must continue to emphasise rail safety and reliability to win back public confidence. However, this must not hinder the delivery of improvements. Accidents are falling and passenger numbers are increasing. Therefore to help finance a reliable service and control growing demand, an increase in ticket prices should be considered on many key routes. The use of total line shutdowns to enable rapid, safe renewal work should be increased to speed regeneration of the network. Initiatives such as the Rail Academy must be backed by government to deliver much needed skills.	B
Local roads and transport	D+	Improving	Improvements are being seen as Local Transport Plans (LTP) start to be delivered but there are still too many under-performing authorities and a lack of clear priorities from central government. Overall the public is still dissatisfied with standards. Capital allowances are no longer ring-fenced and risk being diverted to other cashstrapped services. There is concern that the Government’s 10-year transport plan is no longer realistic. The majority of local authorities also fear that they will have difficulty implementing their LTPs with resources available. Many regions continue to oppose radical schemes such as congestion charging for fear of losing economic advantages to other urban areas. There is also concern that public transport investment will suffer as the private sector appetite for investment is dented by continued government delays. The backlog in highway maintenance work has now risen to over £8bn. The situation is particularly acute in Scotland where many local authorities are under-spending existing budgets, which may already be too low. Recruitment is a growing problem as the shortage of transport professionals continues.	Government needs to work with local authorities to re-focus on delivery. The Department for Transport must ensure that resources are available and encourage private funding. It must also decide what it wants local transport to achieve and replace the 10-year transport plan with a realistic and deliverable set of objectives. The critical condition of roads and footways must be improved through investment to tackle the huge backlog of repairs and also funds dedicated to improving road and pedestrian safety. The number of separate funding bids should be reduced to allow local authorities to concentrate staff on project delivery.	C-
Water	B	Improving	The benefits of sustained investment by water companies are being seen by the public. Drinking water quality is at an all time high, river and coastal waters are cleaner than they have been for decades – with a record number of Blue Flags awarded to beaches this year. Leakage from clean water pipe networks has been reduced to lowest ever levels. The National Audit Office recently declared that the RPI-x pricing model had successfully lowered prices while raising service standards. A common framework for capital maintenance has also been agreed, as have industry proposals on leakage target setting and measurement. Water supply competition will now be restricted to industrial and commercial sectors and not the domestic supply. Ofwat’s proposals to agree funding for the first year of the next 5 year investment cycle are a welcome step forward. Mains rehabilitation programmes continue to make progress but sewer replacement continues to face serious under-investment.	The whole industry must start to consider the long term implications of water infrastructure management, of sustainability and of customer needs. Capital and maintenance expenditure must be sufficient to deliver a consistent service level but the need to improve infrastructure above and below ground must also be factored into expenditure plans. Investment to eliminate sewer flooding must be reviewed as must guidance for adoption of sustainable urban and rural drainage systems (SuDS). Funding for the management of existing assets must not be neglected in favour of cash for further quality improvements.	B
Flood management	C	Improving	Flood risk remains a headline issue for those in waterside communities. The 2000 floods woke the UK up to the need for increased and better-managed investment, and greater funds have since been put to good use. Welcome proposals have also been made for streamlined funding and institutional arrangements. But decades of under-funding are not easily remedied, and sustained investment will be required to bring the nation’s flood defence assets up to scratch. Progress has been made in raising awareness of flood risk, in mapping areas with a 100 to 1 chance of flooding, in developing suitable forecasting systems and in controlling development in functional floodplains’. The need to treat flood management as a catchment-wide and not a local issue, along with other environmental, social and economic matters, is now better appreciated, and plans are being prepared for the 80 catchments of England & Wales, to provide a platform for strategic flood management.	Funding for flood defence works and flood management initiatives needs to be guaranteed by government at a level corresponding to £10 per head of population per year - around £530 million a year for England & Wales - for the next ten years. Funding mechanisms also need to be made less bureaucratic. Integrated asset management plans should be prepared and implemented. Climate change considerations should be factored into the calculation of future flood probabilities, as a sensitivity test at the very least.	C+
Energy	C-	Declining	The recent crisis at British Energy confirmed that the energy industry is in critical state. The New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) are bleeding the industry dry, seriously endangering the security of the nation’s electricity supply and preventing investment. The recent government energy review failed to deliver real direction. The UK’s reliance on imported gas as the primary fuel is growing and many generators, including the fledgling businesses in the renewable market, are being driven out of business by falling prices. The target of generating 10% of electricity using renewable sources by 2010 will not be achieved. Coal fired power stations will fall from 30% to 10% generation share by 2015 while nuclear will reduce from 25% to 5% by 2020. Gas replacement could return CO2 emissions to 1990 levels. The proposed Liabilities Management Agency to tackle nuclear decommissioning is welcome but Government has still failed to set policy on waste storage and disposal.	The forthcoming White Paper must give clear signals on how UK will generate its electricity to meet climate change targets and ensure longterm security of supply. Ofgem’s role must be reviewed to ensure that pricing structure does not kill industry investment. More investment in renewable technology and links to the grid must be made to match the demise of nuclear generation. New generation nuclear power or coalfired stations with carbon sequestration are the only viable long-term options to meet base load demands. A clear government decision – with necessary funding – on nuclear waste management is essential.	C-
Urban regeneration	D+	Declining	Government has published proposals to streamline the planning system, together with proposals for housing location. Reports published include guidance on urban design, sustainable housing, quality streetscapes and Home Zones. Questions remain as to whether policies will be implemented. A recent survey found that very few developers are adopting sustainable development patterns. The Government has distanced itself from "anti-car" policies, such as speed cameras and congestion charging leaving the planning system as the principle means to control car ownership and use. The ICE’s Local Transport and Public Realm Survey identified that £70bn is needed over 15 years to create and sustain a quality public realm. This is less than the amount paid each year for house moves on estate agent fees, legal and other costs. High house prices in the South East have put purchase beyond the reach of many people, raising questions over the ability to sustain balanced communities.	Funding needs to be increased if the government is to achieve its goal of creating communities where people choose to live. This cash is vital to enhance residential, business, and retail areas, improve road safety and the local environment, and introduce intelligent transport systems as permanent long-term solutions to road network management. Stamp duty should be eliminated and the process of house sale simplified. Professional design must be utilised to improve the quality of the public realm. The cost of public liability insurance to local authorities and owners of other publicly accessible land must be reduced.	D
Waste	D	Improving	Government is reviewing the infrastructure and resources needed to meet the Government’s Waste Strategy 2000. This will determine how the European Landfill Directive will be implemented and if an increase in Landfill Tax is necessary. First bidding for the Government’s £140 million Recycling Fund is complete. Local authorities will have £50M to spend in 2002/3 to increase recycling rates and the remaining £90M will soon be allocated to spend in 2003/4. While this funding is encouraging, many local authorities believe greater resources are required. The Waste Resources Action Programme is funding increased paper and secondary aggregate reprocessing. However, some reprocessing industries are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in the European market place. Recycling increased by only 1% in the UK over the last year. This rate of change is too slow to ensure that recycling targets will be met. However, growth in total waste generated also slowed.	The results from the PIU study are critical to provide local authorities and businesses with guidance on critical decisions for procurement and development of waste handling infrastructure. Construction of modern waste handling, sorting and disposal infrastructure must to be accelerated to provide realistic alternatives to landfill. Better incentives are needed to encourage the private sector to get more involved in the waste and recycling industry. Government must commit funds and resources to educate and reform social attitudes towards waste and recycling.	D

G=Grade, SG=Sustainability Grade

Environmental and sustainability comments Civil engineers will be in the forefront of providing clean water and sanitation to 1bn extra people over the next decades. The more politicians fail to agree steps to create a more sustainable future, the more important it will be for the professionals to lead by example and deliver sustainable solutions for their clients and the general public. A positive and constructive response to the Johannesburg summit is needed from the UK Government. This must also address recent criticisms of the Government’s performance to date by Jonathan Porritt, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission. Tony Blair’s promise of action on sustainable development by all government departments must be delivered across Whitehall, not just selectively. The ICE published Society, Sustainability and Civil Engineering in April to guide the profession’s approach to sustainable development in which Government minister Brian Wilson acknowledged "Civil engineering has a major contribution to make… making sustained improvements to quality of life … and as a profession with the skills to deliver improvements to the built and natural environment". Civil Engineers must engage in the public and political process to win better decisions and public confidence. The discrepancy needs to be addressed between society’s expectations and desires for better, efficient infrastructure and what citizens are prepared to accept for these desires to be realised. Without such engagement, society is in danger of making ill-informed decisions on such matters.

How we did it The State of the Nation report is produced once a year. The grades are decided by a panel of experts chaired by Mark Whitby, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The overall grade is an average of all the grades for each category. Each category is also given a grade for sustainability - a measure of how well environmental and social concerns are being integrated with economic issues. A=Good, B=Fair, C=Average, D=Poor, E=Bad.

Contact details Antony Oliver, editor, NCE: 020 7505 6677, 07710 341 082 (mobile), antony.oliver@construct.emap.com. Neal Weston, external relations manager, ICE: 020 7665 2151, neal.weston@ice.org.uk.