Senior infrastructure figures have written to political party leaders demanding a radical post-election overhaul of the way government spending decisions are made.
Chiefs at more than 30 organisations including Arup, Mace, Costain and Arcadis wrote an open letter calling for new ways of calculating the benefits of investment in big civils schemes.
Expenditure on transport and utility construction is “critical” to long-term growth, they state.
But a pound spent on infrastructure is currently “treated the same as a pound on benefits” according to the letter, organised by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and backed by several regional business groups.
“Building a new mass transit system is accounted for the same as if the Department for Transport spent it on stationary,” it continues. “The rules of the game are broken and we need a stronger Office for Budget Responsibility to sort out the mess we are in.”
The letter, signed also by bosses at Manchester Airport, Associated British Ports and Story Contracting among others, calls for a new National Infrastructure Strategy to replace the one launched by former prime minister Boris Johnson four years ago.
It also urged the next government to pass a bill through Parliament within a year of being elected to secure a critical section of the long-proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme between Manchester Piccadilly and the city’s airport.
“This should happen in parallel with rapid progress designing the new line to Liverpool, and be followed as quickly as possible with progress on the rest of the route,” adds the group.
“We ned to maximise the benefit of every pound of taxpayers’ and private investors’ money,” the letter says. Investment in transport and energy infrastructure can create jobs across the UK, it further states.
“Our next prime minister has big choices to make. We will get behind any government prepared to commit to a long term infrastructure plan.”
The full letter and list of signatories can be seen below.
It follows a manifesto from 12 Tier One contractors urging the next government to “depoliticise infrastructure” among other measures to improve major project delivery. The Association for Consultancy and Engineering last week called for the next government to create a new infrastructure department to tackle “urgent” challenges from day one.
As part of their General Election pledges, the Labour Party has said it will create a new infrastrucure body called the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista) while the Conservatives promised to slash the planning time for major infrastructure promises from four years to one.
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