Local Partnerships responds to The Second National Infrastructure Assessment

The role and engagement of local councils and mayoral combined authorities is critical to deliver the recommendations set out by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC)

The breadth and depth of the Second National Infrastructure Assessment is impressive. The challenge of producing an impartial five yearly review, underpinned by robust analysis and a fully costed plan for economic infrastructure over the next 30 years, should not be underestimated: particularly against a backdrop of significant and sustained uncertainty.

The country’s wider infrastructure needs

Recent announcements on High Speed 2 (HS2) have inevitably drawn attention to the country’s wider infrastructure needs and the long-standing growth ambitions across all the UK’s regions. Whilst transport is a major component of the infrastructure debate the Second National Infrastructure Assessment shines a light on the wider infrastructure spectrum and the equally important and dependent roles of energy, waste, digital, data, water, environment, design, funding, regulation and resilience.

Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, stresses that:

…the hardest part is of course turning policy into delivery on the ground. People often talk about infrastructure as the backbone of our economy: what our infrastructure needs now is the collective mettle to turn commitments into action that will reap rewards for decades to come.

In comparing the First National Infrastructure Assessment (2018) with the Second Assessment (2023) it is clear local councils and mayoral combined authorities will continue to play a critical role in achieving ‘delivery on the ground’ and building a low carbon and resilient economy. If the recommendations set out in the Second Assessment are adopted there are several opportunities to strengthen the unique place-shaping role delivered by local government. 

A selection of recommendations from the Second National Infrastructure Assessment include:

• a recommended move away from centrally allocated funding pots for transport and a shift towards implementing flexible, long term, devolved budgets for all local authorities that are responsible for strategic transport.
• extending the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and devolving directly to local authorities to deliver the programme.
• a move towards devolved multiyear funding packages for local authorities to support social housing providers in their area rather than the existing approach of competitions for available funds.
• acknowledging local authorities are ideally placed to identify local charging needs and should play a more active role in facilitating private investment in the deployment of charging infrastructure.
• a need for greater engagement with mayoral combined authorities and pan-regional partnerships in preparing Road Investment Strategy 4 (2030 to 2035) and developing a pipeline of future interurban road projects over a thirty-year horizon.
• allocating funding to create local authority Digital Champions to accelerate the market-led deployment of 5G technology and ensure consistency of planning approvals.
• proposing the development of individual recycling targets for all local authorities and the necessary financial support for transitional costs.

So, what’s ahead?

Looking ahead, the need to develop and articulate the case for infrastructure investment and associated devolved powers at the local level provides opportunity and complexity in equal measure. Successful long-term infrastructure planning at the local level, aligned to the recommendations of the Second Assessment, will require local authorities and mayoral combined authorities to identify and prioritise local infrastructure requirements, develop a robust pipeline of sites and projects and potentially investigate new options for financing mechanisms to support local infrastructure that meets the immediate and long-term needs of local communities. 

As part of the wider government family, Local Partnerships can help bridge the gap between local and central government, strengthen the case for investment and leverage the skills required to support local councils identify, assess, and prioritise place-shaping requirements, navigate the challenges of net zero and assure projects and programmes.

Please do contact our Place experts to discuss further.

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