{"id":618419,"date":"2023-03-16T01:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T06:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/16\/budget-2023-industry-welcomes-nuclear-support-but-questions-pipeline-delay\/"},"modified":"2023-03-16T01:50:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T06:50:00","slug":"budget-2023-industry-welcomes-nuclear-support-but-questions-pipeline-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/16\/budget-2023-industry-welcomes-nuclear-support-but-questions-pipeline-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget 2023: Industry welcomes nuclear support but questions pipeline delay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Extra support for the nuclear industry in today’s budget won plaudits from the construction industry \u2013 but some rued the lack of a clear pipeline and changes to corporation tax.<\/p>\n

In today’s Budget (15 March) chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK would \u201cnot enter a technical recession this year\u201d, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).<\/p>\n

Hunt’s raft of policy announcements covered energy, infrastructure and tax changes. Construction News\u00a0<\/em>rounds up the industry response.<\/p>\n

Nuclear<\/h3>\n

One of Hunt’s key promises was to \u201caddress constraints in the nuclear market and support new nuclear builds\u201d, by giving nuclear projects extra financial incentives. Hunt also announced the creation of a new organisation called Great British Nuclear.<\/p>\n

Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) director of operations Marie-Claude Hemming said the creation of Great British Nuclear was \u201cgood news for industry\u201d as it would \u201cencourage private-sector investment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCECA has consistently argued that new nuclear power must be part of the mixed portfolio of generation the country needs to keep the lights on and create a sustainable, low-carbon future,\u201d she added. \u201cThe foundation of Great British Nuclear must herald a new era in which the ambition of delivering new nuclear generation translates from words to action.\u201d<\/p>\n

WSP’s UK chief strategy officer Paul Tremble said: \u201cIndustry has made great progress in recent years to build a secure and affordable energy future for communities across the UK.\u00a0 <\/span>Today\u2019s recognition of nuclear power in this future energy mix is welcome, so too the support for carbon capture, usage and storage technology in tackling climate change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Newbery, energy partner at law firm Gowling WLG said the new focus on nuclear would make many small- and medium-reactor (SMR) firms \u201cdouble down on their efforts in the UK market in priority to others\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that the decision to grant extra financial incentives would also help investors decide \u201cto invest in Sizewell C and other nuclear projects\u201d alongside other green assets such as offshore wind farms.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure<\/h3>\n

Pipelines of work for the construction sector have been demanded for a long time. And, although the Budget promised a pipeline, Arcadis head of strategic research Simon Rawlinson pointed out that a delay of the infrastructure pipeline until later in 2023 was \u201cburied in the Budget\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis delay won\u2019t build confidence,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

While Wates public sector director Stephen Beechey welcomed the push for a pipeline, he called on the government to \u201cgive urgent consideration\u201d to a pipeline that covers work between three and five years into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking this step would give industry the certainty it needs to make long-term decisions in important areas including investment, hiring and training \u2013 all of which will drive economic growth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Energy<\/h3>\n

The Budget also focused on carbon capture, with Hunt pledging up to \u00a320bn for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). The announcement got a positive reaction from Mineral Products Association (MPA) chief executive Jon Prichard labelling it \u201cwelcome and important\u201d for the cement and lime industries in the UK.<\/p>\n

Although Landsec chief executive Mark Allan also applauded the investment, he said the Budget \u201ccould have gone even further\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see the government build on the commitments they\u2019ve made today by prioritising measures like whole-life carbon assessments and better regulation which will get to the heart of the [climate change] issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SMEs<\/h3>\n

SMEs are among those worst hit by the heightened inflation and energy prices that have been affecting the sector, so many were hoping for help with the high prices. But director of legal and business at the Electrical Contractors\u2019 Association (ECA) Rob Driscoll said the increase of corporation tax from 19\u00a0 to 25 per cent in April for businesses that earn over \u00a3250,000 will come while SMEs continue to face up to those challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s Budget may prove to be counter-intuitive and hinder businesses\u2019 ability to pivot into delivering our urgent net-zero targets,\u201d he said. \u201cThe drive to net-zero hinges on skilled engineering services professionals doing the frontline work to upgrade our grid, electrify transport and heating, and connect our homes and businesses to clean energy sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was not covered<\/h3>\n

There was little mention of housing or rail, with the major rail announcement seeming to come last week in the<\/a> form of delays to HS2.<\/p>\n

Graham Prothero, chief executive of MJ Gleeson and former chief executive of Galliford Try, said the budget was a \u201csignificant missed opportunity\u201d in terms of housing. He said there must be movement to decrease long planning-permission processes, which remain a \u201csignificant roadblock\u201d to housebuilding aims.<\/p>\n

Rail Industry Association (RIA) chief executive Darren Caplan, meanwhile, said the Budget left the industry \u201cno further forward\u201d on any measures to support decarbonisation in rail, which was \u201cneeded\u201d to help reach net-zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver recent days the future of transformational major rail projects has become more uncertain, with, for example, a two-year delay announced for delivering the HS2 northern leg,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But he did say the funding for up to 12 new investment zones would provide \u201cincentives for innovation and levelling up\u201d across the UK.<\/p>\n

Gleeds chief executive Graham Harle argued that Hunt had \u201cmore headroom to invest than he used\u201d \u2013 particularly as the government is facing \u00a330bn-less borrowing costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am disappointed that there were no defined measures to assist us operating in the built environment, one of the largest and most impactful sectors in the UK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Joshua Stein<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Extra support for the nuclear industry in today’s budget won plaudits from the construction industry \u2013 but some rued the lack of a clear pipeline and changes to corporation tax. In today’s Budget (15 March) chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK would \u201cnot enter a technical recession this year\u201d, according to the Office for Budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":618420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23273,534,648],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-618419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-budget","8":"category-financial","9":"category-industry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}