In launching the Commission, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said:
The Commission will publish a National Infrastructure Assessment later in the current Parliament, setting out its overview of the UK’s priorities for the next 30 years, but it has already produced reports on three specific areas: • Smart Power – this sets out the innovations in storage, demand management and interconnection (between the UK and other European countries), which are necessary to achieve a more efficient, flexible and secure electricity network • Transport for a World City – this considers how to address London’s pressing need for additional transport infrastructure, as the capital becomes a “mega-city” by 2030, with a population exceeding 10 million. In particular, it endorses the strategic case for Crossrail 2, a north-east to south-west rail link to complement the new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail 1), which is due to commence operations in 2018 • High Speed North – this recommends that the North of England should receive significant investment in transport connectivity between its major cities – the so-called “ Northern Powerhouse ” of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle – in order to reduce journey times, increase capacity and improve reliability. Key objectives include upgrades to the M62 motorway between Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, and the creation of “HS3”, comprising enhanced rail connections, initially between Leeds and Manchester. This will link into the northern sections of HS2 (a north-south, high speed rail connection currently in development) A key role in the delivery of this investment in the North will be played by the recently created Transport for the North (TfN) , a collaboration between local authorities in the region, which has the objective of developing a co-ordinated transport strategy, and which is due to become a statutory body by 2017 To complement the National Infrastructure Commission’s focus on strategic planning, the Government has also created a new body to oversee and improve the actual delivery of major government projects. This is the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) , which brings together the expertise of two previous bodies - Infrastructure UK (IUK) and the Major Projects Authority. The IPA has set out the Government’s priorities for infrastructure delivery for the next five years in its National Infrastructure Delivery Plan (NIDP) . This updates and replaces the previous National Infrastructure Plan (published by IUK), and outlines details of GBP 483 billion of investment to 2020-21 and beyond, in over 600 projects and programmes across all sectors in the UK. In short, the NIDP seeks to identify “what will be built and where”, and the IPA will report annually on progress in its implementation. Infrastructure isn’t some obscure concept – it’s about people’s lives, economic security and the sort of country we want to live in. That’s why I amdetermined to shake Britain out of its inertia on infrastructure and end the situation where we trail our rivals when it comes to building everything from the housing to the power stations that our children will need.
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