ICE focuses on infrastructure in election manifesto

Institution of Civil Engineers calls on all political parties to consider skills, investment, innovation and productivity

THE Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has today published a manifesto that includes five key areas for all political parties to consider following the 2017 general election.

The manifesto, which recognizes infrastructure as the bedrock of economic growth with the capacity to create jobs and significantly improve people’s lives, asks that:

• Infrastructure is placed at the heart of economic policy: The UK needs a long-term strategic approach to infrastructure provision that can cope with future uncertainties.
• Brexit negotiations consolidate the UK’s status as an attractive location for infrastructure investment: Ensuring that the Brexit negotiation process does not disrupt the healthy pipeline of projects and established models will mean that investors, financiers and developers will continue to have a positive view of the UK.
• The UK avoids a self-inflicted skills crisis: Guaranteeing the status of EU nationals working in the UK.
• The UK is allowed to become a global leader in infrastructure innovation and technology: Ensuring that infrastructure remains a priority in any Industrial Strategy, with a programme to exploit the UK’s existing advantages in innovation and technology.
• Productivity and regional growth are driven through the nation’s infrastructure: There is a direct connection between the efficiency and effectiveness of the infrastructure and productivity within communities across the UK. All parties should commit to delivering a modern industrial strategy so that infrastructure services increase productivity.

On publishing the manifesto, ICE’s director general, Nick Baveystock (pictured), said: ‘Effective, efficient and innovative infrastructure is at the heart of a thriving, successful and modern economy. The transport energy and housing that we all depend on would simply not function without it.

‘That is why we are asking all parties now running for election to focus their efforts so we continue to deliver world-leading projects, on time and on budget, that change people lives for the better.

‘If enacted, the five areas in our election manifesto would provide the stable foundations for the UK’s infrastructure sector to implement the National Needs Assessment and avoid serious pitfalls in a politically uncertain world.’

Mr Baveystock added: ‘When infrastructure projects flourish, the entire economy benefits. We know that £1.00 of infrastructure construction raises economic activity by £2.84. The sector also helps boost employment. Every 1,000 direct jobs created by the delivery of new infrastructure boosts wider employment by over 3,000 jobs.’

As the voice of infrastructure, ICE will work with all major political parties and opinion-formers to make sure that they are provided with the most up-to-date and relevant information.

The Institution creates a series of publications on a regular basis to inform the debate, such as the National Needs Assessment and State of the Nation, and also facilitates industry leaders to engage with government.