The Spending Review is fast approaching and all areas of government spending on infrastructure are under scrutiny. 

While areas such as Highways England’s funding settlement look safe, departments have been asked to consider how they might shave their budgets by 25% or 40%.  Some heavy cuts look inevitable.  

Paradoxically, this could be an opportunity.  The sheer scale of the deficit reduction target the government has set itself means that we must think creatively.  

"Now is surely the time to secure value by focusing on the big network-level objectives and taking a multi-year, whole life approach"

The National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) - despite accusations that it’s just a list of projects - does a reasonable job of explaining what government is trying to achieve.  Investment is to be prioritised in areas that drive productivity.  Infrastructure is also given a central role in dealing with long term challenges including population growth and climate change.  

A fairer criticism is that it’s not always easy to see the link between the projects in the NIP, and delivering on these strategic objectives.  This is exacerbated by the lack of a view on what level of capacity or performance is actually being sought in order to meet our objectives.  

So instead of conducting a department by department cheese -paring of budgets, what if Ministers stepped back and made strategic decisions?  

The planned investment in the Strategic Road Network may help us achieve a “mile a minute” network; unlocking connectivity, growth and jobs.  But nearly every journey begins and ends on a local road, where maintenance backlogs are growing.  We also know that flooding incidents can take parts of the network out of action for days, if not weeks.  Funding for these areas is spread across three government departments.  Capital and maintenance budgets remain siloed.  

"As a long term Whitehall observer, I find it easy to say “it can’t happen, that’s not how government works”."

Now is surely the time to secure value by focusing on the big network-level objectives and taking a multi-year, whole life approach to meeting those objectives.   We should be ready for this to result in some decisions not to build at all, for instance where deployment of technology to manage demand or optimise performance is a better option.  

This in turn will help accelerate a transformation in the industry - creating a demand for new business models, more innovation and meaningful collaboration across the supply chain.    

As a long term Whitehall observer, I find it easy to say “it can’t happen, that’s not how government works”. But in the first year of a new parliament, faced with huge pressure on budgets – will there ever be a better time? 

Andrew Crudgington, ICE Director of External Affairs and Strategy