Ben Wilson
James Heath: Getting the evidence in place for key decisions on low carbon heat
James Heath, Chief Executive of the National Infrastructure Commission, addressed Utility Week’s ‘Build Back Better’ Forum today (21 October 2020). His speech explored the policy decisions and investment needed to harness the full potential of low carbon heat, setting out the range of evidence that will be required to ensure effective decisions to address the...
Armitt speech on principles for urban infrastructure
Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, delivered a speech today (7 October 2020) at the launch of the Commission’s report, Principles for effective urban infrastructure. The launch event was co-hosted with Centre for Cities. The text of Sir John’s speech can be found below. Before I begin let me thank our...
Armitt: A clear infrastructure policy is more vital than ever
In a comment piece published in the Sunday Telegraph on 4 October 2020, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, Sir John Armitt, reflects on the importance of a National Infrastructure Strategy for setting out the role of infrastructure in economic recovery, meeting the net zero target and ‘levelling up’. An edited version of the article...
James Heath speech to Infrastructure Forum Annual Policy Summit
James Heath, Chief Executive of the National Infrastructure Commission, addressed the Infrastructure Forum Annual Policy Summit yesterday (29 September 2020). His speech explored the importance of a long term strategy for infrastructure planning, the tests which the Commission will apply to the government’s forthcoming National Infrastructure Strategy, and the key policies the Commission recommends is...
Letter to the Chancellor on four tests for a successful National Infrastructure Strategy
National Infrastructure Commission Chair Sir John Armitt has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to set out four tests which the forthcoming National Infrastructure Strategy will need to meet, in order to deliver the ambitious, long-term vision for the UK’s infrastructure set out in the National Infrastructure Assessment. These are: A long term perspective – the...
Letter to BEIS Select Committee Chair Rachel Reeves MP on energy efficiency
Following an evidence session to the BEIS Select Committee inquiry on energy efficiency in April 2019, National Infrastructure Commission chief executive Phil Graham wrote to committee chair Rachel Reeves MP to clarify the Commission’s position on energy efficiency and correct two errors in chapter two of the National Infrastructure Assessment which were identified during the session. The...
Sir John Armitt speech to Global Engineering Congress
We meet just a matter of weeks after the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change gave one of its starkest-ever warnings of what could happen if we don’t act now to protect our planet for the future. Its report warned that, far from keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees, we’re heading for a possible rise...
Sir John Armitt speech to Utility Week Congress
This is an exciting time to live and work here in Birmingham. The regeneration of New Street station has transformed the look and feel of the city centre, and once complete HS2 will stop at two different stations here. Alongside Coventry and Wolverhampton, Birmingham is part of the country’s first multi-city testbed for 5G technology....
Sir John Armitt speech to the London Infrastructure Summit
The history of our capital’s infrastructure is filled with stories of world-firsts, projects whose working lives have far surpassed original predictions, and feats of design and engineering that we all too often take for granted. Take the London Underground network – the first metro system of its kind, up to five million passenger journeys are...
Heathrow: letter from Sir Howard Davies and Sir John Armitt to MPs
In July 2015 the Airports Commission published its final report, recommending the construction of a third runway at Heathrow as the best option for expanding the UK’s airport capacity. Earlier this week, the Government laid its final Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) before Parliament, which supports the expansion of Heathrow. Ahead of the expected vote...
Roads For The Future: speech by Sir John Armitt to the UK Transport Infrastructure Summit
Good morning. Thank you to Transport Times for hosting today’s event, and for kindly inviting me to open the proceedings. Thank you also for giving my fellow Commissioner, Julia Prescot, and staff from the Commission the opportunity to talk more this afternoon about our vision for the UK’s future transport infrastructure. The National Infrastructure Commission...
Freight Study – letter from the Chancellor to Lord Adonis
Letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission Lord Adonis on plans for a study into freight.
Post-election statement – priority actions for Government
The statement below sets out the National Infrastructure Commission’s ‘top 12’ priorities which require urgent action by government. In each case, there is already a commitment in principle to the project or policy – but without timely ministerial decisions over the next year, progress will stall and in some cases projects or investments may collapse...
‘Reclaiming the Victorian spirit’ – speech by Lord Adonis
The speech below was given by Lord Adonis at the Institution of Civil Engineers, setting out his proposed infrastructure priorities for the year ahead.