ICE response to HM Treasury’s 10-year Infrastructure Strategy Working Paper

The ICE has responded to HM Treasury’s (HMT) working paper, which tests the government’s initial thinking on a 10-year infrastructure strategy.

The ICE strongly supports a greater focus on longer-term strategic planning for infrastructure.

The UK requires clear strategic direction, stable policymaking, and a long-term commitment to major infrastructure projects. This would enable the government to get better value for money and mobilise the private sector investment needed to close the UK’s infrastructure gap.

The ICE’s response draws on global best practice including insights from the ICE-convened Enabling Better Infrastructure programme and focuses on the following areas:

The strategic principles and objectives included in the paper are, for the most part, the right ones to focus on

As countries shape their national visions, the EBI programme recommends that they focus on the pillars of economic prosperity, social concerns, and environmental or natural resource goals.

The objectives included in HMT’s working paper map onto these focus areas well. They include enabling resilient growth, delivering the clean energy superpower mission and ensuring social infrastructure can support public services.

Reflecting global best practice, the strategy would, however, benefit from an improved integration of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The strategy could act as a spatial planning tool, but will require wider system change to support its success

The working paper considers whether the strategy should serve a spatial planning function. A spatial strategy would improve investors' and suppliers' confidence by allowing them to better understand what new and improved infrastructure is needed, why, when, and where.

If it’s to play this role, the government will need to focus on integrating the full hierarchy of spatial plans with a vision and strategic direction based on a comprehensive needs assessment. HMT should consider whether a body with a mandate to enforce this alignment would be an appropriate addition to the UK’s spatial planning arrangements.

Improved certainty won’t come from the strategy alone

Alongside the strategy, the government will need to focus on getting the enabling system settings right.

It will be crucial to prioritise work on:

• Engaging more closely with the supply chain
• strengthening commercial capability across the government; and
• ensuring that regulators are well resourced to support growth that is sustainable and affordable.

It is positive to see HMT’s focus on developing a more robust pipeline of infrastructure projects to underpin investor confidence and enable strategic workforce planning.

NISTA can play an important role in bedding in the strategy, as well as industry best practice

The new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) presents an opportunity to better coordinate infrastructure strategy and delivery within government and mandate best practice across departments.

However, NISTA will effectively become integrated into the government machinery and risks losing the National Infrastructure Commission’s independence and impartiality.

The ICE has work underway to identify key priorities for NISTA which will be released in the coming weeks.

The strategy is expected to be released alongside the spending review in June. You can read the ICE’s submission in full below.