Civils contractors today lent their backing to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Project Delivery’s Building a Better Future report, which identifies systemic blockers in the UK’s infrastructure delivery landscape, including delays, cost overruns, and a persistent ‘valley of death’ between policy and delivery.
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) said it strongly supports the report’s central message, that Government must move away from short-termism and fragmented decision-making, towards a disciplined, long-term, and delivery-focussed infrastructure agenda.
Commenting, CECA Director of Policy and Public Affairs Ben Goodwin said: “CECA strongly backs the APPG’s call for Government to embed delivery discipline as a core pillar of infrastructure policy, protecting it from short-termism and political churn.
“The report emphasises the need to streamline infrastructure delivery through integrating project-delivery professionals from the outset, and reforming procurement to enable early contractor involvement and value for money.
“Infrastructure is the backbone of the economy but for contractors to thrive they need the clarity and stability of predictable pipelines, realistic budgets, and procurement environment that drives innovation and efficiency.
“For the UK’s infrastructure and construction supply chain to succeed, payment and procurement mechanisms must keep pace with 21st century needs. To delivery value, companies must be engaged early, paid promptly, and treated fairly, so that the razor-thin margins they operate under do not undermine the ability of contractors – large and small – to invest in capability and delivery.
“The UK Government has taken welcome steps in publishing its 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and founding the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) as the guiding light to lead the urgent task of renewing our national infrastructure. But to meet the needs of communities and businesses, infrastructure delivery must be approached as a dynamic process of constant improvement.
“We call on the Government to act on the APPG’s recommendations and to work with CECA, our members, and other industry bodies, to secure effective delivery across projects of all sizes – and to secure the consistency, accountability, and value for money the UK taxpayer deserves.”
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