THE Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) General Election campaign began this week, marking the start of a programme of activity to ensure that whichever party wins the General Election, the public will benefit from Government placing infrastructure at the heart of its economic plans.
ICE’s “Commit to Infrastructure” campaign started with the launch of a paper of the same title – issued to MPs across the political spectrum to aid their understanding of the importance of infrastructure to local communities as well as to the wider UK economy.
The paper – which will be followed by a Manifesto for Infrastructure in February outlining more detailed policies building on the State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report – sets out a 5 Step infrastructure challenge for politicians:
1. To give infrastructure the front row seat it deserves – as a driver of growth and job creation but also a catalyst for regenerating communities and maintaining our quality of life
2. To be visionary – creating a long term, evidence based strategic vision and importantly a frame work for achieving political consensus on that vision
3. To be bold – political courage is key, tough decisions lie ahead on the future of the UK’s energy and aviation policy, driving the delivery of major projects, and managing the cost and resilience of our infrastructure networks
4. To get smarter at engaging with the public – to better make the case for infrastructure a proactive programme of engagement with the public is needed, building trust, confidence and credibility into the decision making process
5. To build on the progress and momentum achieved in the last 5 years – starting from scratch risks losing momentum and shaking investor confidence
A twitter hashtag #Commit2Infrastructure has also been created as a platform for debate in the run up to the General Election and for keeping industry, politicians and other stakeholders up to date with ICE’s work.
ICE activities and reports planned over the coming months – in addition to the Manifesto for Infrastructure – include meetings with politicians, forums, debates and hustings across the country. A report on infrastructure resilience and availability will also be published, exploring the infrastructure challenges faced by cities around the world in the face extreme weather events, how they are managed, and how the UK can learn lessons.
The Commit to Infrastructure campaign follows the launch of ICE’s Transport for Growth report on devolution published in December. The report called on policy makers from across the political spectrum to accelerate the process for devolution of transport powers in the next Parliament and “seize the opportunity to unlock the potential of our city regions”.
The Institution has also urged all parties to consider whether an Independent Infrastructure Body to act as a framework for achieving consensus on the UK’s infrastructure needs – similar to that proposed by Sir John Armitt – could be achieved by building on the existing structure rather than creating an entirely new entity. ICE said this solution would avoid stalling the momentum that has been achieved and shaking investor confidence at this crucial time.
View the Commit to Infrastructure report at www.ice.org.uk/commit2infrastructure
