The Government’s ‘levelling up’ concept needs to move beyond
rhetoric and on to delivery, requiring targets and metrics to
enable Parliament and public to identify success, says a new
report from the Transport Select Committee, Major transport
infrastructure projects.
Major transport infrastructure is at the centre of the
Government’s National Infrastructure Strategy, published in
November 2020. The strategy aims to support an ‘infrastructure
revolution’ to reduce regional inequalities within the UK. While
the coronavirus pandemic continues, Government should examine
whether existing projects will deliver their intended strategic
benefits and policy objectives, recommends the report.
The Committee calls on Government to prioritise projects which
support connectivity, growth and productivity. It recommends a
new framework for assessing individual projects, replacing
benefit-cost ratios with a ‘benefit-cost plus’ system to ensure
value for money for the taxpayer while according due weight to
geographic, environmental and social factors.
The Committee’s report highlights several major transport
infrastructure projects that have exceeded timelines and budgets,
with senior management at government agencies apparently
unaccountable for progress. Delivering these projects is a
challenging and complex process made more difficult, and less
transparent, by single specific targets, says the report. The
report recommends the introduction of floors and ceilings for
project costs and timescales. MPs also call for the creation of a
formal duty to inform Parliament’s Select Committees about
increased costs or delivery times for the roll-out of major
transport infrastructure projects.
Ensuring UK Plc has the workforce to deliver major infrastructure
projects is vital for delivery. However, the Committee heard of
predicted shortfalls in skills across project delivery, analysis,
construction, engineering, management and leadership. The
Committee calls on Government to develop and deliver a future
skills plan in consultation with public and private sector
employers to identify and address skills gaps which might delay
projects.
Chair of the Transport Committee, , said:
“Successive Governments have struggled to deliver major transport
infrastructure to time and budget. It’s clear that the project
management and delivery of these projects could be substantially
improved. Too many projects start out with early political
announcements but no clear view of the finish line. As a
consequence, many overrun on time and budget without sufficient
accountability. We see the benefit of a UK-wide infrastructure
programme – we want the public to share that view, too.
Government must set out the definition and metrics by which
success will be defined.
“In too many examples, senior management at the responsible
Government agencies are apparently unaccountable for projects
which overrun and exceed their budgets. They must be incentivised
to acknowledge difficulties, and we recommend a formal mechanism
be created for this purpose.
“The changes to the Government’s transport spending rules are
welcome in order to deliver our net zero and regeneration
targets. Too many projects have been focussed in the most
productive parts of the country purely because they deliver the
greatest ‘bang for the buck’ to the Treasury. However, the
Government must continue to keep an eye on return to the taxpayer
and not invest in green ‘white elephants’ or projects which do
not level up for those who most need it.
“The Government is ambitiously planning an ‘Infrastructure
Revolution’. To deliver this vision, we need investment in a
workforce capable of building it. A future skills plan, including
apprenticeships and training programmes, is essential. To help
our transport pioneers level up, to time and budget, the
Government needs to make difficult decisions and assess if legal
and political activism must level down.”
Further information:
Further inquiry details available from the Committee’s website:
Major
transport infrastructure projects: appraisal and delivery -
Committees - UK Parliament.
The transcripts from oral evidence sessions and written evidence
are available here: Major
transport infrastructure projects: appraisal and delivery -
Committees - UK Parliament
Committee membership:
, Chair (Con, Bexhill and Battle)
MP (Lab, Exeter)
(Lab, Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab, Nottingham South)
(Con, East Devon)
(Con, High Peak)
(Con, West Dorset)
(Con, Lincoln)
MP (Lab, Easington)
(SNP, Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
(Con, Buckingham)
