Summary and implications

The Government’s National Infrastructure Delivery Plan (NIDP) was published on 23 March 2016. It is the first attempt by the Government to bring together its plans for economic infrastructure, housing and social infrastructure within a single comprehensive document. It sets out the funding pipeline for planned investment that includes 600 projects, with a combined value of £483bn.

The key priorities to 2021 are as follows.

Roads

The NIDP outlines the Government’s commitment to delivering a step-change in investment in the UK’s strategic road network. Its delivery strategy involves:

• £15.2bn committed to Highways England to spend during 2015 to 2021, with annual funding on road enhancements tripling to £3bn year-on-year during that period – amounting to the biggest investment in our road networks since the 1970s. Focus will be on both asset renewal and maintenance, with more than 100 major road schemes planned by 2021;
• £5bn to be injected into local authority budgets to allow improvements in local roads, including the £250m pothole action fund;
• the introduction of "smart motorways", using technology to increase traffic flow and decrease congestion – a £650m project on the M4 having already been identified as part of this initiative; and
• up to £2.5bn to be invested in the A14 and A1 (North).

Rail

The NIDP boasts the largest rail modernisation programme since Victorian times. This ambitious programme will see:

• Network Rail spend more than £38m over a five-year period, with more than £15bn on enhancements. Around £1.8bn will be raised through non-core asset property sales including depots, coupled with increases in Network Rail’s borrowing limits;
• a £1.2bn boost to rail services through Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. 500 new carriages will allow room for 40,000 more passengers and 2,000 extra services a week;
• £55.7bn invested in HS2, the new high-speed network linking eight of Britain’s 10 largest cities;
• Crossrail in service by 2018;
• Thameslink transforming north-south travel through London;
• Intercity Express Programme, providing £5.7bn to grow and improve some of the busiest intercity routes; and
• the Rail Delivery Group delivering more than 3,700 carriages over the next four years, valued at £9.3bn.

Airports

Despite the UK having the third largest aviation network in the world after the USA and China, the NIDP demonstrates the Government’s ongoing commitment to expand airport capacity further. Additional regional routes are backed by £7m from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund in Carlisle, Dundee, Derry, Newquay, Norwich, Oxford and Southampton. Investment programmes at Manchester (£1bn), and Healthrow and Gatwick (£4bn) are currently underway.
 
Energy

The NIDP sees the Government supporting the energy market to deliver a more diverse range of technologies, providing the new electricity generation capacity that our current systems need. These will include:

• new nuclear – EDF and CGN, Horizon Nuclear Power and NuGen have already set out proposals for develop 18GW at six sites. The most advanced project, Hinkley Point C will provide low-carbon electricity to six million homes, around 7% of the UK’s needs;
• gas – new plants are expected to come forward, the first being the 880MW Carrington plant, expected to be the UK’s most efficient power stations; and
• offshore wind – seven large-scale new offshore wind projects are currently expected to come forward during this parliament.

In conjunction with new technologies, key priorities will also include the ongoing replacement of ageing assets and maintaining current networks, promotion of smart meters and cheaper domestic energy supplies, and supporting sources of renewable energy. Chris Hallam, Infrastructure, Construction and Energy Partner, has written a more detailed blog on the proposed delivery of the energy plan here.

Housing and regeneration

The NIDP confirms the UK Government’s commitment to the most ambitious plan to build homes since the 1970s, with over £20bn of investment over the spending review period delivering 400,000 new homes. Other sections within the NIDP detail the associated infrastructure, such as roads and rail, needed in tandem to unlock, or accelerate delivery of large housing sites.

Brownfield land is seen to be the key to meeting the current housing need and The Housing and Planning Bill is seen as the key facilitator in unlocking the targeted 90% of suitable brownfield sites for housing by 2020. The Government will also take the radical step of direct commissioning of up to 13,000 new homes, the first wave to start on four sites in 2016. It has also committed to releasing public-sector land for 160,000 homes representing a 50% increase on the last parliament. Having already placed obligations on local authorities to have local plans in place by early 2017, the Government will also be introducing further transparency measures requiring the release of public-sector land in a timely manner.

Telecommunications

A reliable internet connection is now of paramount importance to the majority of businesses across the UK and this demand for rapid digital services will no doubt continue to rise. There is a clear acknowledgement in the NIDP that this will inevitably require ongoing private investment and the support of growth in the market.

The Government’s continued role will be to act as a facilitator of such investment and policy stability in the sector. To date, the Government has invested £790m in the £1.7bn rural broadband programme. By 2017 superfast broadband will have reached 95% of premises. £10m has also already been allocated to market test innovative solutions for delivery of super-fast broadband to the most difficult to reach areas of the country. Key priorities to 2021 include:

• superfast broadband to 95% of premises by 2017;
• voice coverage to 90% of the UK geographical area by the end of 2017;
• 98% of premises to have access to 4G mobile broadband by 2017;
• £500m to support the change of use of 700MHz spectrum for broadband use; and
• 750MHz of valuable public-sector spectrum in bands made available by 2022.

Author: Chris Hallam, Partner, Nabarro LLP - View profile here

Co - Author: Kuldip Dhanoya, Senior Associate, Nabarro LLP - View profile here

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