Labour tells Liverpool, let’s build!

Labour has made the shores of the Mersey its second home with the party conference back in Liverpool for the fourth year in a row. The conference was busier than ever, with a packed fringe agenda over the five days.

The ICE’s policy and external affairs team was up there to talk about our latest publications and gather insights on their plans for infrastructure.

What did Labour want us to know?

Given the scale of the government’s infrastructure announcements during the summer, it’s no surprise that there were limited new updates from the party.

However, one area that set the tone for the whole conference was the list of proposed new towns announced on Sunday.

Along with the 12 new sites, the New Towns Taskforce made recommendations around the need for integrated housing and infrastructure strategies.

They also said that development corporations and enabling infrastructure are central. Environmental goals, transport links, and social infrastructure are also key to creating thriving communities.

These are all messages that align with the ICE’s own paper on enabling housing growth through infrastructure.

Channelling some energy typically found across a larger stretch of water than the Mersey, new Housing Secretary Steve Reed called on the country to “build baby build!”

He has already pledged that work will start on three of the new town sites before the next election.

Getting Northern Powerhouse Rail back on Track

Elsewhere, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that, despite rumours, the government intends to press on and build Northern Powerhouse Rail.

This was a welcome signal for the contractors and consultants we spoke to. While the speech was light on further detail – particularly the ‘when’ – this isn’t necessarily a bad sign.

One of the findings from our report on HS2 last year was that the government rushed to greenlight the project. So, if this is a sign that lessons are finally being learnt, it should be welcomed.

How do we get on and deliver?

While the speeches in the main hall might have been light on new insight, there was a clear question being asked at the fringe events.

How will the government deliver everything it has set out?

This government has staked its reputation on delivery. But major infrastructure takes time and significant resources to deliver.

The government needs a clear narrative around who and what it’s building for. It needs to engage the public about what infrastructure can bring to their everyday lives – not just about the costs and disruption that comes with construction. 

The role of devolution

Elsewhere, there were discussions about the role of regional and local authorities in delivering the government’s many ambitious strategies.

MPs called for more regional investment and highlighted the need to connect areas to the wider improvements that are coming from projects such as HS2.

The Devolution Bill, now making its way through Parliament, is seen as the key to unlocking this.

But central government needs to trust regions. Plenty of examples demonstrate the success of the devolution model, not least in Manchester. The argument at the conference was that more local decision-making is needed.

Skills: the missing link in delivery

One area where there is a clear role for Westminster is skills.

This is the missing link in delivery and is one of the areas highlighted in the ICE’s recent paper, which asks: what are the pinch points to delivering the UK’s infrastructure ambitions?

In particular, there is a need for a skills plan that sets out how the government will deliver on its industrial and infrastructure strategies.

The next iteration of the infrastructure pipeline with regional skills data will help. But this will eventually need to join up with other sectors and plans, including the ambitious target of achieving clean power by 2030.

A battle for growth - the AI revolution vs net zero

One area that has climbed the agenda since I was last at the Labour Party conference in 2023 is the explosion in the AI revolution.

There’s a lot of excitement about how this new technology can speed up delivery, particularly in infrastructure, and transform services in a range of sectors.

But before we can even think about how AI is applied, we need a lot of infrastructure to make it possible.

Currently, there are about 400-500 data centres in the UK, with another 100 awaiting planning permission. All this needs energy, and a lot of it.

The CEO of the National Grid last year estimated that the demand from commercial data centres would increase sixfold in the next decade.

There are real questions about how this is generated. Can it be delivered solely through renewables, or will we see a push for more gas-powered stations – such as in the US, where 40% of data centre’s energy comes from natural gas?

And that is without mentioning the impact that AI data centres have on water use, given the huge demand for it to cool and regulate temperature.

Ultimately, AI is here to stay. But there will have to be decisions over priorities and considerations around trade-offs.

Can the UK meet its net zero targets and lead the world as a place for investment in AI?

This is a question that policymakers will have to grapple with quickly.