ICE submission to Spending Review and Autumn Budget 2021

Date: 14 October 2021

The government has committed to increasing investment in infrastructure, with the updated infrastructure pipeline setting out £650 billion of public and private infrastructure investment over the next 10 years, including £200 billion up to 2024/25.

Our submission to Spending Review 2021 sets out how the UK’s infrastructure planning can be directed towards achieving the outcomes the government has prioritised, such as net zero and levelling up, while ensuring sustainable investment for infrastructure delivery and performance.

Our recommendations include:

Update the objectives for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) to include net-zero and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Ensure the Net Zero Review future-proofs funding for net-zero infrastructure
Use the SDGs as a starting point for future funding for levelling-up
Publish a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy which takes decisions on the policy trade-offs needed to maximise the use of infrastructure as part of the transition
Start the journey towards sustainable post-Covid-19 public transport funding
Learn from uncertainty in demand by boosting investment in the National Digital Twin programme to reinforce Transforming Infrastructure Performance 2030 (TIP) ambition
Publish the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)