The new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced his Growth Plan to Parliament today, detailing the ways in which this Government will attempt to grow the economy – but what does this mean?
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While the chancellor delivered his mini budget in Parliament, the Growth Plan 2022 document outlined the chancellors plans and added a little more detail. The plan outlines a number of ambitious promises and policy initiatives to try and deliver growth for the UK economy, with a large focus being on infrastructure projects.
The Government today announced a number of measures to speed up infrastructure projects, from energy to transport.
Transport infrastructure projects make up a large portion of those selected to be “accelerated as fast as possible”, with 86 named (p35, Growth Plan) to be helped along. As stated, “These projects may benefit from acceleration through planning reform, regulatory reform, improved processes or other options to speed up their development and construction, including through development consent processes.”
The 86 road infrastructure projects that have been selected will be welcomed by many CIHT members and partners currently working on these schemes - including the A66, a project that CIHT Yorkshire & Humber region hosted an online panel discussion last year.
There were also a number of other types of transport infrastructure projects that have been earmarked to be accelerated, including, Rail, Decarbonisation and Local Transport. CIHT has previously called for a National Transport Strategy (NTS) that should include the strategic and local highway networks, rail, aviation and ports and set out how those networks integrate with one another.
The Growth Plan also details that Rt Hon. Chris Skidmore - who chairs the environment all-party parliamentary group - will chair a review of the net zero commitments, and how these can be best balanced against maximising economic growth and investment. CIHT welcomes the renewed focus on infrastructure delivery by the Government and looks forward to seeing how these will work in tandem with the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
CIHT looks forward to responding to the consultation on the proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill, as outlined in the Growth Plan. This bill looks to “accelerate priority major infrastructure projects across England, by minimising the burden of environmental assessments; making consultation requirements more proportionate; reforming habitats and species regulation; and increasing flexibility to make changes to a Development Consent Order once it has been submitted.”.
While there has been an announcement of an acceleration to projects, there is still no confirmed timetable as to when the projects will be delivered, and there has so far been no mention as to how the Government will deliver its removal on restrictions to infrastructure.
Sue Percy, Chief Executive, CIHT said:
"CIHT welcomes the government’s intent to speed up delivery of infrastructure projects and their acknowledgement that transport infrastructure schemes will play a key part in driving economic growth.
Whilst we welcome the renewed focus on transport, including on road building, this and other forms of infrastructure construction must not be at a cost to net zero commitments. Transport is the biggest CO2 emitter by sector and therefore CIHT will look forward to seeing how the Government balances these decisions with the transport decarbonisation plan.
Furthermore, “Planning reform to accelerate infrastructure delivery” (p.30 Growth Plan) should not come at the cost of providing high quality places that provide for people, not cars. The 86 road building infrastructure schemes should form part of a wider national transport strategy, and CIHT believes investment should be considered in line with a sustainable transport hierarchy as outlined in the updated Highway Code and government commitments to Active travel and improved bus services.
As part of any infrastructure delivery plan, CIHT continues to call for a new focus on the Local Highway Network. This has the potential to demonstrate how the highway network will support the delivery of a carbon-neutral system, create sustainable, green, resilient, and accessible places, make transport healthier, and ultimately facilitate economic growth."
CIHT will monitor the further Growth Plan announcement in the coming weeks.
CIHT members – what do you think about the Growth Plan 2022 and what it means for transport – join the discussion on CIHT Connect
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