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Message from the editor | Issue 12 | July 15

New government - new ideas. But to meet the ongoing economic challenge we all need to embrace new thinking, says Antony Oliver. Business as usual won't cut it.

No one should mistake the evidence that this new Tory administration is  setting itself out as different from the previous five years of coalition. 

While the headline objective of preparing a November spending review with up to 40% savings across the public sector will come as no surprise given the manifesto objective of cutting the UK deficit, it none-the-less underlines that the next five years will not be business as usual.

"Reforms are needed, as George Osborne puts it, that “will deliver a step change” in the way the nation invests its limited resources.  Business as usual clearly will not cut it."

Whether it will be possible to actually achieve such levels of public sector efficiency, of course, now depends more on what the state decides not to do. Continuing to scale back and make cuts will not be enough. It is clear that the future will require different thinking by all.

At the heart of the Tory economic plan is the need to boost the UK’s ailing productivity across all sectors of industry. This month’s “Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation” report published alongside the summer Budget is designed to tackle this tricky issue.

The good news is that the plan retains the notion that investment in infrastructure is core to delivering a vital productivity boost across the UK. The challenge is to do this at a much lower cost.

Reforms are needed, as George Osborne puts it, that “will deliver a step change” in the way the nation invests its limited resources.  Business as usual clearly will not cut it.. 

Infrastructure professionals already appreciate this, as witnessed by the work going on to deliver a new campus for media giant Sky (see page 20). New materials, off site fabrication, focus on the user, delighting the client – all central to embracing better not just cheaper solutions.

There is much to do, as the rail industry’s recent challenges demonstrate. But the opportunity is there with planning reforms, longer term funding underpinning investment and promises by government to take hard decisions on aviation and regional fiscal devolution.

But we must also embrace new thinking, new technologies, new techniques and, critically, new skills. We must change infrastructure design, construction and management beyond recognition if we are to serve clients – public and private - of the future.

Antony Oliver is the editor of Infrastructure Intelligence 

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.