Ministers fail to develop national infrastructure projects to boost the UK’s growth and help the country meet its carbon emissions targets, independent infrastructure advisers say in a report.
According to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), government infrastructure measures are stuttering at a time when they should be accelerated.
Sir John Armitt, Chairman of the NIC, said: “Another year of deception threatens to lose momentum in important areas such as reaching regulatory zero. Rarely has the need for speed been so obvious.
“That means making fewer small incremental changes and instead larger policy stakes, supported where appropriate by public funding – the risk of delaying climate change now outweighs the risk of over-adjusting,” he said.
Their annual report says ministers have “lost their way” to achieve goals in “a number of areas” and criticize the failure to improve household energy efficiency, improve low-carbon heating solutions or “find a sustainable balance between supply and demand” for water. .”
The NIC states that “more persistence and focus on fewer, larger, more focused initiatives is needed to build the infrastructure needed to achieve long-term economic growth and decarbonization goals.”
She added that of the planned 600,000 heat pumps to be installed annually by 2028, only 55,000 will be installed by 2021, as opposed to 1.5 million gas-fired boilers.
Efforts to decarbonise the transport sector have also stalled, NIC said in a statement. “The government expects there will be 300,000 public electric vehicle charging stations by 2030, but there are currently only 37,000 public charging stations,” he adds.
“The government continues to put too much effort into many small financial interventions and repeated consultations in an attempt to maintain electivity in all areas,” the report says. “Small steps forward in all directions will not lead to the scale of necessary infrastructure changes.”
He calls for more decentralized funding and Whitehall empowerment, arguing that more local approaches to infrastructure development “may better reflect local economic and social priorities and avoid the perverse incentives created by the pursuit of multiple national grants.”
The commission says that multi-year funding should be aligned with the joint authorities, who should also be given more freedom to generate revenue locally.
He reiterates the call for accelerated planning and streamlining, noting that on average a project takes about four years to get through the planning system, up from two and a half years ten years ago.
Ministers must also ensure that the UK remains internationally competitive so that the private sector enjoys “investment confidence”, the report said.
Recycling efforts across the country have stalled, he said, and quick action is needed or key emission-related targets from the waste sector will be “missed.” Recycling rates collected by local governments have stabilized over the past decade and “seem far” from the government’s goal of 65 percent recycling by 2035.
“Years of stagnation mean drastic changes are now needed to achieve the government’s own targets for recycling and segregating food waste,” the report says.
The report said that an “increased sense of safety” was needed around HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The NIC report is a separate investigation by the National Audit Office that found that the government’s decision to delay construction of High Speed Line 2 would add huge new costs to the project.
Ministers this month announced the delay of a line between Birmingham and Crewe, as well as a final route to Euston in central London.
The state spending watchdog warned: “A two-year pause in new construction will defer spending in the short term, but will result in additional costs in the long term and possibly higher overall costs. This is due to the costs associated with the suspension and resumption of work, contract changes and longer project management.”
The watchdog warns that Euston Station’s cost problems have worsened. Earlier this month, HS2 ltd reported in March 2023 that the latest cost estimate for 10-platform development is £4.8 billion, £2.2 billion over budget.
The NAO said the forecasting tool that HS2 Ltd uses as the basis for its annual budget with HM Treasury in 2020 predicts prices will fall between December 2019 and August 2022, while revised forecasts for 2022 predict the inflation rate is about 18 cents.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The government should rethink plans for the Euston HS2. It is clear that the restart of the station design for 2020 failed. The Department of Transportation and HS2 Ltd have failed to develop an accessible line of business that integrates with other activities in Euston, despite a focus on cost and management as of 2020. Recent high inflation has exacerbated the problem.”
Source: I News
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