In its submission to HMT ahead of the July Budget, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) warned that proposed public spending cuts threaten many of the Government departments responsible for the delivery and maintenance of infrastructure - at a time when Government should be reaffirming its commitment to infrastructure sitting at the heart of its economic plans.
It raised particular concern around the axe falling on the six year £2.3bn investment plan for new flood defences, which is unprotected. Flood schemes are also vulnerable from potential cuts to Local Authority budgets as Government only part funds flood schemes.
ICE called on Government to use the Budget to demonstrate its commitment to building the UK’s resilience - locking in the £2.3bn investment for new flood defences, matching it with a six year investment programme for maintaining existing flood defences, and avoiding further cuts to Local Authority budgets. It also urged Government to work more closely with LLFA’s to target flood spend where it is needed most.
ICE Director General, Nick Baveystock, said: “We are at a critical time – the dust has now settled and Government knows it must restore momentum, building on the solid foundations laid since 2010 and demonstrating its commitment to infrastructure as a catalyst for rebalanced growth, productivity and improved resilience.
“When public spending is tight, we know tough decisions must be made, but we hope Government acts with caution when it comes to spending cuts that could affect infrastructure delivery or impact on the progress made. The UK’s resilience, in particular, should not hang in the balance.
“Resilience cannot be achieved through one-off cash injections to repair flood defences or patch up roads following extreme weather. It is a long term challenge which demands long term thinking. 5.2million properties are at risk of flooding in England alone, with annual flood damage costs in the region of £1.1billion. It has been estimated that maintaining existing levels of flood defence would require flood defence spend to increase to over £1billion per year by 2035.
“The upcoming Budget presents an opportunity for Government to make a clear statement about its commitment to building the UK’s resilience, and ensuring we are fit to face future challenges. ICE stands ready to work with Government on this.”
View the ICE Budget submission
Political expedience at the cost of resilience – ICE President’s blog
Other key ICE Budget recommendations - Government should:
- Create a joint central and local government programme to clear the local road maintenance backlog - and a commit to a planned, preventative maintenance regime going forwards
- Develop infrastructure network performance metrics - to measure the performance of the networks, establish likely impact from factors such as climate change and population growth, and enable industry to deliver more resilient infrastructure
- Establish a framework that enables long-term infrastructure decision-making – through the creation of a “strategic needs assessment” for UK infrastructure, outlining how proposed projects will contribute to the specific economic and social objectives
- Reaffirm its commitment to delivering the projects included in the Highways England six year capital roads programme - to give industry confidence in the pipeline and in developing its people and capabilities to match demand
- Accelerate the devolution of power and resources for infrastructure - to deliver greater focus, investment and better decision making
- Take steps to improve infrastructure delivery capacity & capability - to secure a world class engineering workforce that can drive innovation and productivity
- Keep the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury as the leads on infrastructure policy and delivery – so UK infrastructure continues to benefit from a champion at Cabinet level
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