CECA members were recently joined by Mike Reader MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infrastructure, for a roundtable discussion focused on unlocking major infrastructure delivery in the UK. Ben Goodwin, CECA’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, reflects on a lively discussion that took place in Portcullis House.
The roundtable, which was attended by CECA members from across the country, was a timely opportunity to set out some of the Association’s key policy asks to an influential parliamentarian working closely on built environment issues.
CECA has developed a range of policy asks following an extensive membership consultation exercise, which included the delivery of six workshops to gather members’ views on what they feel they need from UK infrastructure policy.
Some of the asks presented to the roundtable included the need to:
- Develop a clear and accurate National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline (NICP)
- Urgently reform the planning system to speed up the delivery of major infrastructure
- Support the development and use of best-in-class frameworks
- Better integrate infrastructure delivery with housing growth
- Increase and effectively target investment in skills and training across the infrastructure sector
The presentation of these interventions helped to provide some useful context and direction for the discussion that then followed.
In his opening remarks, the Chair of the Infrastructure APPG focused on the positive step that the Government has taken in launching its 10-year infrastructure strategy, which is underpinned with public funding to the tune of £725 billion.
He also challenged CECA members to collaborate more effectively with government to develop the NICP into a tool that can more effectively provide contractors with the long-term certainty that they need to plan and build out their businesses to meet the demand to deliver infrastructure.
It isn’t just the responsibility of government to do this. A fair point, which was well made and something CECA has been working on with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
The general roundtable conversation that followed focused on a variety of areas including the potential to better align regulatory periods across different infrastructure sectors to help manage skills demand, through to longstanding challenges related to transactional business models and what was a shared desire for both government and industry to get behind the Construction Playbook.
On the Playbook point it was felt that this was something that CECA should be pursuing through its seat on the Construction Leadership Council.
Discussion also covered the machinery of government and the possibility of the UK establishing an infrastructure delivery authority akin to that which exists in Hong Kong. The premise being that such an authority would have the autonomy and clout to get infrastructure planning and delivery done far more efficiently than at present.
An issue that really ignited the roundtable was on the need for central government to provide more direction and prescription on what local government reorganisation means for the infrastructure sector, including guidance for contractors looking to procure projects and programmes.
The discussion ended on an optimistic note with CECA members committing to talk up positive experiences of project and programme procurement, to help share good practice across the civils community.
CECA is currently planning further member roundtables and webinars with the Competition and Markets Authority on its civil engineering market study and with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on water sector reform.
If you are a CECA member and would like to know more, get in touch via enquiries@ceca.co.uk.