Government ministers have been urged to put infrastructure at the top of their in-trays in a bid to underpin post-Brexit jobs and growth.
That was the cry of NIC chief Lord Adonis in a speech, backed by business leaders, at the Institute of Civil Engineers this week.
Lord Adonis, who chairs the National Infrastructure Commission, said projects like Heathrow, HS2, new electricity generating capacity, and radical improvements to digital infrastructure were agreed in principle and needed to get under way early in the new parliament.
Highlighting 12 major projects and priorities, he said issues such as Brexit and the hung parliament should not lead to dither and delay.
“Rapid progress in the next year on these top 12 major projects and priorities is an acid test of the government’s commitment to the ‘jobs first Brexit’ which the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, argued for last week. All of these have been agreed in principle, but require decisive action to get them moving in the new Parliament. They ought to be at the top of ministers’ in-trays, and they ought not to linger there a day more than necessary.”
The 12 priorities, backed by the Confederation of British Industry, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses, are:
- Heathrow Airport
- High Speed 2
- High Speed 3 (linking the major northern cities from Liverpool to Newcastle and Hull)
- Crossrail 2 (linking north-east, central and south-west London)
- Eastern crossings of the River Thames
- Flexible power systems
- Renewable energy
- Decarbonisation of energy
- Hinkley Point C
- Broadband and mobile
- 5G mobile
- Water and flood defence infrastructure
Read more about the Top 12 on the NIC website.
