UK infrastructure plan needs less talk and more action, says ICE

摘要

Ministers must shift the infrastructure agenda from rhetoric into "delivery mode" if the government is to retain confidence in the effectiveness of the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) and succeed in delivering the infrastructure the UK needs, the ICE said last week. In a paper submitted to Infrastructure UK, the Institution said the focus for the next NIP, due to be published with the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, must be on creating a "robust and focused delivery plan". To help achieve this, it repeated its call for the government to replace its "top 40" priority projects list in the NIP with a shorter, concise list of priorities which align with the UK's strategic goals. The ICE also called for speedy introduction of the promised legislation which will end stop-start investment patterns in the UK's roads, which have long hindered maintenance and asset management. And it urged the government to push ahead with electricity market reform, which it claimed is "arguably the most important national strategic requirement covered in the NIP."