The “Commit to Infrastructure” campaign started with the launch of a paper of the same title - issued to MPs across the political spectrum to aid their understanding of the importance of infrastructure to local communities as well as to the wider UK economy.
The paper will be followed by a Manifesto for Infrastructure on 10 February outlining more detailed policies building on ICE’s State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report. It sets out a 5 Step infrastructure challenge for politicians:
- To give infrastructure the front row seat it deserves – as a driver of growth and job creation but also a catalyst for regenerating communities and maintaining our quality of life
- To be visionary - creating a long term, evidence based strategic vision and importantly a frame work for achieving political consensus on that vision
- To be bold – political courage is key, tough decisions lie ahead on the future of the UK’s energy and aviation policy, driving the delivery of major projects, and managing the cost and resilience of our infrastructure networks
- To get smarter at engaging with the public – to better make the case for infrastructure a proactive programme of engagement with the public is needed, building trust, confidence and credibility into the decision making process
- To build on the progress and momentum achieved in the last 5 years – starting from scratch risks losing momentum and shaking investor confidence
A twitter hashtag #Commit2Infrastructure has also been created as a platform for debate in the run up to the General Election.
ICE activities and reports planned over the coming months - in addition to the Manifesto for Infrastructure – include meetings with politicians, forums and debates.
A report on infrastructure resilience and availability will also be published, exploring the infrastructure challenges faced by cities around the world in the face extreme weather events, how they are managed, and how the UK can learn lessons.
The Commit to Infrastructure campaign follows the launch of ICE’s Transport for Growth report on devolution published in December. The report called on policy makers from across the political spectrum to accelerate the process for devolution of transport powers in the next Parliament and “seize the opportunity to unlock the potential of the city regions”.
It recommended the creation of fully integrated city region transport authorities with much greater responsibility for road infrastructure and all local public transport. It also called for funding from central Government to be more flexible - with less competitive bidding for one-off funds, less funding allocations rigidly linked to Whitehall led themes and the end of annual allocations of funds. It suggested minimum three year funding settlements, allocated to bespoke city region strategies once developed.
View the Commit to Infrastructure report at www.ice.org.uk/commit2infrastructure
Follow ICE on Twitter at @ICE_engineers and get involved with the debate by using the #Commit2Infrastructure hashtag.
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