In its second five-yearly independent assessment, the NIC has said that the UK must adopt an approach to infrastructure delivery that delivers clear policy stability, pro-investment regulation, and speeds up the planning system for major projects, particularly energy transmission schemes.

Marie-Claude Hemming, director of operations for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), said: “Driving economic growth, achieving net zero, and delivering improved infrastructure for businesses and communities, is of paramount importance to achieving the quality of life in the UK that we all want to see.

“And yet recent global economic factors have seen the UK government pause or cancel projects – most notoriously the northern leg of HS2 – in a bid to meet its own arbitrary fiscal rules.

“CECA has been clear that this is simply a false economy. Delivering infrastructure projects of all sizes and across all sectors is not simply spending, it is investment – delivering jobs and economic growth for a brighter future.

“That is why we are calling on political parties of all persuasions and in all parts of Britain to take on board the commission’s recommendations and back its vision for the future, which will require increased investment in infrastructure in the coming years to deliver the low-carbon, high-growth economy the UK deserves.”

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