Huw Jones is executive director, infrastructure at Bam UK & Ireland
A couple of weeks ago, the government unveiled its 10-year Infrastructure Strategy setting out its ambitions to spend £725bn over the next decade.
The strategy, announced by chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, sets out a long-term plan for how the government will invest in infrastructure and ensure that funding is spent effectively and efficiently.
“This long-term view enables better planning, smarter procurement and stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors”
For too long, infrastructure planning has been constrained by short-term political cycles. This strategy marks a turning point. It provides the certainty the industry needs to invest in innovation, skills and productivity – knowing that the work we do today will be supported and sustained over the long term. Even a 1 per cent increase in productivity across major projects can deliver significant gains to UK GDP, and the Infrastructure Strategy gives us the platform to achieve that.
This long-term view enables better planning, smarter procurement and stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors. It will also ensure that infrastructure investment leaves a lasting legacy – energy resilience, housing support and meaningful career opportunities for many across the UK.
Importantly, a visible and consistent pipeline allows us to invest in people. It enables us to grow apprenticeships, support early careers and create re-entry opportunities for those returning to the workforce.
These are the foundations of a more inclusive and sustainable industry. However, these are also steps we need to take to make our sector more attractive to the next generation of workers and address the 250,000 skilled worker shortage our industry is facing.
Offering greater working flexibility and supporting people who have been on an extended career break are both important steps to making our sector more attractive to more people.
Developing skills
The government recently announced £1.2bn in funding to support over one million young people into training and apprenticeships – this initiative will certainly help the industry recruit a substantial number of young people in various roles in construction. It is very important that part of the focus is on creating long-term employment opportunities and developing the skills that the industry needs for now and the immediate future.
A coordinated, cross-sector approach also means we can focus resources where they will have the greatest impact, whether that’s supporting the government’s five strategic goals, accelerating housing delivery, or strengthening our energy resilience in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment. A key enabler of the infrastructure pipeline will be vital improvements to the planning and consent for major infrastructure programmes. The government will need to ensure that the correct regulatory environment is established to enable the delivery of the UK’s infrastructure pipeline.
We also welcome the government’s recognition of the need to reform the planning and consenting processes. A streamlined regulatory environment, combined with smarter procurement and risk allocation, will help ensure that public investment delivers maximum value. The Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the design, planning and delivery of railway and public road infrastructure projects, which complements the Infrastructure Strategy by helping to identify and remove barriers to efficiency and innovation, is another important step.
Finally, we see the Infrastructure Strategy as a catalyst for deeper collaboration between the public and private sectors. A stable pipeline will attract private capital, and we look forward to working with the government to develop investment models that deliver long-term returns for UK society. This is a moment of opportunity – and contractors are ready to play their part.
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