There are 660 projects scheduled over the next decade, according to the new National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline from Whitehall’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA)
The IPA’s latest pipeline has been published as the industry readies itself for the Spring Budget.
The 2023 pipeline shows 660 projects and programmes across the public and private sectors and £164bn of investment planned for the next two years.
Key features of the IPA pipeline include:
- £700-775bn of planned and projected investment expected over the next 10 years, with £215bn to be spent from 2025/26 to 2032/33
- £64bn worth of investments include delivery through Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in the next two years
- £22bn of forthcoming infrastructure procurements
- £233.88bn of investment in transport
- £315.83bn to be invested in the energy sector
HS2’s replacement, Network North, is mentioned in the pipeline
The £36bn package of local transport developments was announced last October by prime minister Rishi Sunak after the Government cancelled the Manchester leg of HS2.
Investment outlined in the 2023 IPA pipeline includes a “commitment to expand Northern Powerhouse Rail”, as well as allocating £8.3bn to road resurfacing in England, delivering a mass-transit system in West Yorkshire, and providing £8.55bn of funds through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.
Renewing Government focus on MMC
The planned £64m investment in modern methods of construction (MMC) follows calls for greater detail and transparency on MMC spending.
IPA chief executive Nick Smallwood said he was “pleased to see” the £64bn investment in MMC and called for “further and faster” modernisation of building methods, including “putting digitalisation at the forefront of planning”.
A lack of specific details on the infrastructure projects has raised concerns
The analysis acknowledges that there is “uncertainty on the delivery profile for a number of individual projects”, which echoes the response of some industry voices.
UK & Ireland president of AtkinsRéalis, Richard Robinson, said: “The long-awaited National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline publication provides industry with a welcome view of planned investment in the short term but a rather uncertain picture of projected investment over the next decade.
“Whilst longer term uncertainty is somewhat inevitable, the known scale of infrastructure transformation required in the coming decades is not currently represented in the pipeline.”
