Transport projects dominate the Government’s forward programme of construction work but more certainty is needed as to when many of the schemes will begin, according to the accountancy firm KPMG.

It says that transportation represents over £66Bn of work going forward and makes up over half of the total value of the 1886 projects listed by Government in its so called construction pipeline. But a third of all projects in the pipeline currently have no specified completion date.

KPMG’s UK head of infrastructure, building and construction Richard Threlfall says this is a concern. “Industry confidence in the pipeline would be improved if there was certainty around timescales to get schemes delivered,” he pointed out.

“We welcome the Government’s initiative in developing the construction pipeline but more needs to be done to increase the competitiveness and robustness of the data. We hope that there will be improvements in the data set, so it becomes a reliable planning tool against which the UK construction industry can plan and invest with confidence.”

While 40% of projects in the pipeline are set to complete before 2016 they represent only 7% of the total allocated pipeline value, according to the accountancy firm. Nearly one third of the total number of projects are in southern England.

Mr Threlfall added that nearly 60% of the total value forecast to be spent over the longer term is on transport schemes such as High Speed 2 and improvements to the national road network.

(Photo: Network Rail)

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