The National Infrastructure Assessment published on Tuesday 10 July is described as a plan of action for the next 30 years and covers energy, water and waste, flooding and digital connectivity as well as transport. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will carry out the assessment every five years.

Sir John Armitt, Chair, NIC said: “The whole purpose of the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Assessment is to think beyond the technologies of today and to ensure we can make the most of future innovations. This is not some unaffordable wish list of projects. It sets a clear direction for how to meet the country’s future infrastructure needs and makes a realistic assessment of what can and should be delivered within the stated aim of Ministers for steady and continued investment over the coming years."

“Our analysis and proposals will not satisfy everyone. But the recommendations represent our considered view of how we can best create infrastructure which enables a fair, productive and green society for the whole country.”

Infrastructure funding recommendations include:

• Government provides cities with five year devolved urban transport infrastructure budgets from 2021.
• Metro Mayors and city leaders develop long term strategies covering transport, employment and housing to support growth. £43Bn of long term transport funding be provided for regional cities by 2040.
• Government provides cities with five year devolved urban transport infrastructure budgets from 2021 and that Metro Mayors and city leaders develop long term strategies covering transport, employment and housing to support growth.
• Local authorities are given further powers to capture a fair proportion of the land value increase from planning and infrastructure provision.
• Good design is embedded into the culture of infrastructure planning to save money, support environmental net gain and create a legacy that looks good and works well. All nationally significant infrastructure projects to have a design champion and use a design panel.

Transport proposals include:

• The impending shift to electric vehicles means the current system of road taxation is not sustainable and road pricing can pay for better road infrastructure. The commission pledges to explore new ways to engage with the public and stakeholders on road pricing options.
• To help meet this expected surge in electric vehicles, Government should work with Ofgem and local authorities to enable a roll out of charging infrastructure sufficient to allow consumer demand to reach close to 100% electric new car and van sales by 2030.
• A core network of fast or rapid chargers should be installed at visible locations across the UK to tackle range anxiety. Most charging should be done slow and smart. Local authorities should be required to allocate 5% of their parking spaces – including those on street – to accept electric vehicle charge points by 2020. This should increase to 20% by 2025.
• Government is asked to subsidise the provision of rapid charge points in rural and remote areas by 2022, where the market will not deliver in the short term.
• To establish a Centre for Advanced Transport Technology to better align innovations and investment proposals.
• The local highways maintenance backlog should be addressed by allocating an extra £500M for road repairs each year for the decade beyond 2025.
• While transport investment priorities for the immediate future should support new infrastructure networks such as electric vehicle charging, from 2030 the focus should be on improving urban transport rather than intercity networks. 
• In the long term, connected and autonomous vehicles will bring great change to roads in the UK. Traffic lights and stop signs may become unnecessary. Speed limits could be higher and the use of road space may change according to need. Government must start taking potential future transport impacts into account  as it makes investment plans.

A Government spokesman said: “Improving the UK’s infrastructure is at the heart of our plan to boost growth and productivity. By the end of this Parliament, investment in infrastructure will have doubled in a decade, to at least £24Bn. We established the National Infrastructure Commission to provide independent, expert advice and this report does exactly that. We will respond in due course.”