Schedule 3 and water labelling make NIC top ten must-dos for government

Implement Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act “this year and without delay” and “rapidly put in place plans to get on track to reduce per person water consumption to 110 litres a day by 2050, starting by finalising proposals on water efficiency labelling and water efficient buildings this year”.

Those were two of the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC's) top ten short-term priorities for Government as set out today in its annual Infrastructure Progress Review.

The review analysed infrastructure progress last year. It noted progress towards nationwide coverage of gigabit broadband by 2030 and continued growth in renewable electricity, both of which it said have enjoyed a relatively stable policy environment. Meanwhile it criticised “negligible advances in improving the energy efficiency of UK homes, the installation of low carbon heating solutions or securing a sustainable balance of water supply and demand,” which it observed have been subject to a more short term and changeable approach in recent years.

Drawing on the commission’s past recommendations which have been accepted by government, the report identified ten specific priorities for the year ahead. Alongside water, these covered transport, energy and recycling.

More generally, the NIC called for the following to get infrastructure back on track:

• policy staying power to deliver long term goals and reduce the uncertainty that adds cost for business and delays or deters investment;

• fewer but bigger and better interventions from central government, with tighter strategic focus on the areas it can make the most difference rather than “expending too much effort on many small scale funding interventions and repeated consultations, trying to maintain optionality in all areas”;

• greater devolution of funding and decision making, moving away from competitive bidding processes and building on the multi year funding settlements for combined authorities with long term devolved budgets for all local transport authorities, while also allowing greater revenue raising powers at a local level;

• unblocking delivery barriers, specifically the planning regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects, where updated National Policy Statements for key sectors are the first big step.

The commission will publish a review on how to accelerate the planning system for major infrastructure projects later this spring. This will be followed in the autumn by the second National Infrastructure Assessment, setting out costed recommendations on infrastructure priorities for the next 30 years.