Things can only get better - again, with Antony Oliver

The Infrastructure Podcast

This podcast is a bit different. In short, due to various reasons, you just have me.

But that’s fine as it’s a great opportunity to have a quick catch up post General Election and a gaze into the crystal ball to see what the new and very shiny Starmer government has in store for infrastructure as we head towards the Kings Speech and opening of a new Parliamentary session this Wednesday.

And without getting unnecessarily nostalgic, it’s a great moment to point out - and to mark the fact - that it is 30 years this week since, having sat and passed my professional exams to become a chartered civil engineer, I packed my bags from Sir Owen Williams and Partners and made the bold decision to join New Civil Engineer magazine and start a new career in journalism.

A quick shout out to my old colleague and buddy Diarmaid Fleming, who reminded me of this milestone. Diarmaid and I joined NCE on the same day and from similar backgrounds and were famously both late for our first Monday morning news meeting with then editor Mike Winney.

Well last week’s landslide sweep to power by Labour was, of course, reminiscent of the 1997 win under Tony Blair. That prompted an unprecedently renaissance in infrastructure spending, urged on by the fledgling private finance initiative and underpinned by large dollops of public spending and public debt.

They were heady times that saw huge changes in the UK approach to public transport, to energy policy and to investment in schools, hospitals, prisons and in national and local highways.

The reality is that today, hardly a new ministerial speech goes by without reference to infrastructure investment as the key to driving economic growth and kickstarting the transformation of UK living standards.

As Sir Kier Starmer puts it in the pre-Election manifesto, we are presented with “an opportunity to begin the work of national renewal." OK, so that was the ambition. What about the reality of delivery when the rubber hits the road.

It’s a tough brief given the perilous state of the public finances so let’s take a quick look at six key issues that jump out to me as interesting factors that might shape the next five to ten years of infrastructure and try to get a sense of where we are heading.
1. Giving teeth to the NIC
2. Planning reform
3. Focus on Local Authorities
4. Great British Energy
5. Transport strategy
6. Creating an infrastructure investment fund
Resources
Labour Party manifesto
National Infrastructure Commission
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Lord Hendy appointed Minister of State