ICE recommends urgent changes for successful infrastructure delivery

(by Karma Loveday)

If the construction industry is to deliver the Government’s Ten Year Infrastructure Strategy, urgent improvements are needed in supply chain capacity, innovation and collaboration.

That’s according to the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) 2026 State of the Nation report.

Following a series of roundtables and interviews with water, energy and transport experts, the ICE made the following recommendations: 

• Supply chain capacity and productivity — Westminster should publish a national workforce strategy to help deliver the infrastructure pipeline. Moreover, boosting productivity and capacity means making the best use of equipment and materials. The construction of Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk features heavily in the report as an example of how a large project can best apply measures such as long-term workforce planning, smart logistics and offsite manufacture.

• Innovation —  Adopting advanced digital technology will enable the industry to work smarter as well as harder. The report highlights the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) as an example. Innovative fundraising methods are also championed, such as the regulated asset base model which ICE considered will be crucial to securing all the investment that projects need.

• Collaboration — The report recommended multi-year framework agreements that enable longer-term collaborations between clients and suppliers, aiding problem-solving and create trust. It said: “The water sector leads the way here,” highlighting for example the alliance between client, contractor and the supply chain that is building the Havant Thicket Reservoir in Hampshire.

  
  

The ICE said: “This delivery model will need to be copied more widely if the sector is to achieve the grand reservoir-building plans in Westminster’s 10-year infrastructure strategy.”

£725bn worth of economic and social infrastructure projects are scheduled over the next decade.