{"id":132064,"date":"2020-08-27T17:50:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T16:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=132064"},"modified":"2020-08-28T02:13:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T01:13:20","slug":"parliament-watch-infrastructure-and-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/parliament-watch-infrastructure-and-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Watch: Infrastructure and Rail"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this series, we\u2019re exploring how different sectors may be impacted by autumn policy announcements and how you can prepare for a period without physical party conferences.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Government\u2019s ambition\u00a0for an \u2018infrastructure revolution\u2019\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 set out in the 2019 Conservative manifesto –\u00a0<\/span>was reaffirmed in the March 2020<\/span>\u00a0Budget<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>with investment commitments <\/span>reaching<\/span>\u00a0\u00a3600bn.\u00a0<\/span>This infrastructure revolution is key to the Government\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0\u2018levelling up\u2019 agenda, aiming to\u00a0<\/span>address regional inequalities across\u00a0<\/span>the country<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>As<\/span>\u00a0we move into the recovery phase\u00a0<\/span>post <\/span>Covid<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>adapt to a future outside of the European Union<\/span>, investment in infrastructure will play\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0fundamental role in securing the UK\u2019s future\u00a0<\/span>prosperity<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Active travel<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>The lockdown has demonstrated that many parts of the workforce can efficiently operate remotely, and that the traditional 9 to 5 spent entirely in the office is no longer necessary. Meanwhile, the levels of people walking and cycling have increased dramatically. In response to these changes, the Government has announced the \u00a32bn of investment to put cycling and walking \u2018at the heart\u2019 of the UK\u2019s post-Covid transport plan, with a new body \u2013 Active Travel England – to oversee how the money is spent. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New National Infrastructure and Construction Procurement Pipeline<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n<\/span>In an attempt to provide short to medium term certainty for the construction industry, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority has published a reviewed <\/span>National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0setting out contracts planned for 2020\/21.\u00a0The pipeline is made up of 340 procurement contracts over 260 projects, with a value\u00a0between \u00a329bn and\u00a0\u00a337bn\u00a0\u2013 a broad range of works\u00a0spanning\u00a0across\u00a0building, design and civil engineering contracts; repair and maintenance services; architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services; and consultancy services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

National Infrastructure Strategy<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>The National Infrastructure Strategy is the Government\u2019s response to the National Infrastructure Assessment that was published by the National Infrastructure Commission \u2013 the Government\u2019s advisory board \u2013 in July 2018. The Strategy aims to provide a 30 year plan for infrastructure, including funding projections for transport, local growth and digital infrastructure. It was expected initially last December 2019 and then March 2020, before the Government announced it was another 19 months late.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Transport Decarbonisation Plan<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>Reducing the infrastructure sector\u2019s carbon footprint and ensuring that the sector plays its part in delivering net-zero emissions by 2050\u00a0will\u00a0shape all major infrastructure investment decisions going forward.\u00a0In March the Department for Transport published\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>policy paper<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on creating the\u00a0decarbonisation plan for transport, detailing\u00a0what\u00a0the Government, business and society will need to do to deliver the significant emissions reduction needed across all modes of transport.\u00a0The plan is scheduled to be published later this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Infrastructure levy<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>The long-awaited planning white paper was published by the Government earlier this month, proposing sweeping changes to the current planning system. One of the proposals is that developer contributions, in the form of Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy, are to be replaced with a new Infrastructure Levy. This levy will be a fixed proportion of the value of the development, above a set threshold. Local authorities will be able to borrow against Infrastructure Levy revenues to forward fund infrastructure and speed up delivery. Revenues from the levy would be spent locally on economic and social infrastructure projects such as new roads, community amenities and discounted homes for local, first-time buyers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeports<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>As part of plans to level up opportunity across the UK post Brexit, the Government has announced its intention to build ten freeports across the UK. The Government was collecting views on the proposals until 13 July and is now preparing a response. Airports as well as maritime ports across the UK will be invited to bid.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this series, we\u2019re exploring how different sectors may be impacted by autumn policy announcements and how you can prepare for a period without physical party conferences. The Government\u2019s ambition\u00a0for an \u2018infrastructure revolution\u2019\u00a0\u2013 set out …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":132065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7383,7271],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132064"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132069,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132064\/revisions\/132069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}