The National Infrastructure Commission its National Infrastructure Assessment every five years. The Second National Infrastructure Assessment has recently been published, which includes a 30-year transformation program for critical networks such as energy and transport in the UK. The report acknowledges the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the threat of climate change to infrastructure. The report argues that modern and reliable infrastructure can help tackle climate change, support economic growth, and enhance the natural environment. It recommends decarbonising sectors such as buildings, power generation, industry, and transport to achieve the UK’s climate goals. It also emphasises the need for significant infrastructure investment to meet climate obligations, rebalance the economic geography, improve resilience, and enhance the natural environment.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including backing electrification, adding low-carbon flexible technologies to the electricity system, and creating a new strategic energy reserve to improve Great Britain’s economic security. It also recommends public transport upgrades in congested cities, better road maintenance, and targeted enhancements to speed up journeys, as well as building additional water supply infrastructure, reducing leakage, and introducing compulsory water metering to reduce water demand.
The Assessment estimates the public and private investment required to implement the infrastructure strategy and suggests policy stability, pro-investment regulation, and planning system reforms to attract that investment. Finally, the report calculates potential savings for households by switching to cheaper carbon electricity and reducing water demand.