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Commission hears from West Midlands on region’s infrastructure priorities
What West Midlands needs to build a thriving regional economy – and the role infrastructure can play in helping achieve that goal – was on the agenda for the Commission’s regional visit to Birmingham last week, the second in a series of six visits to cities and city regions around the country designed to help...
James Heath: Reaching out to inform the next Assessment
There is a quote from Einstein that is, I think, very relevant to the world of public policy. He reportedly said: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer”. While I might disagree with the smart bit (!), Einstein’s observation about the value of having time and space to...
Five lessons from our overview of infrastructure challenges
Last month the Commission published its Baseline Report for the second National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA2), identifying key challenges for the coming decades that we will explore in more detail in that Assessment. I worked as lead author on the report, pulling together work from across the Commission’s team into a single narrative. Here are some...
Warming up a new way to model future behaviours
An opinion piece by David Menzies, Modelling Lead for the National Infrastructure Commission. To a large extent, how you heat your home is your decision. For most people it’s also a decision taken when their existing heating system is at or near the end of its life. Will you keep gas central heating? Will you...
In sight but out of mind: designing infrastructure to support mental health
An opinion piece by Ann Zhang, economist at Frontier Economics and Chair of the Commission’s Young Professionals Panel. A Breath of fresh air: Green space and mental health If there is one lesson that lockdown has taught me, (aside from the fact I will never be a star baker), it is that access to green...
The long term role of cars in towns
An opinion piece by Mike Davis, Consultant Engineer at E4Tech, and Jo Garvey-Rae, Senior Cost Manager at Turner & Townsend, both members of the Commission’s Young Professionals Panel. The last 12 months has seen a renewed recognition that some towns and places are being left behind, both in terms of productivity and wider quality of...
Can local energy planning help solve ‘double challenge’ of net zero and levelling up?
An opinion piece by Cissie Liu, senior regulation analyst at SSE Plc and Mike Davis, chartered engineer and a senior consultant at E4tech; both members of the Commission’s Young Professionals Panel (YPP). Background The Commission’s YPP has committed to explore decarbonisation and levelling up as our two key themes for 2021, as both have a...
We must press the accelerator on transport decarbonisation
An opinion piece by Caroline Bryce, Asset Management Adviser at Mott MacDonald and member of the Commission’s Young Professionals Panel. The UK announced its sixth Carbon Budget earlier this year, committing to reducing emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The government expects to achieve this target through investing and capitalising...
How infrastructure can help counter infection
An opinion piece by Monica Laucas, drawing on conversation with Chelsea Stefanska, Global Health Security Specialist at Mott MacDonald I recently discussed with Chelsea Stefanska, a Global Health Security Specialist at Mott MacDonald, how epidemiology can influence infrastructure design and how infrastructure can be retrofitted to be pandemic resilient. “As an infectious disease epidemiologist, it...
Young infrastructure professionals test top ten proposals for driving change
Our Young Professionals Panel considers the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy and Budget and puts forward its top ten recommendations in response to the Strategy and the Commission’s recent Annual Monitoring Report.
Looking back at transport development
If you’re reading this, you’ll probably know we recently launched our data pages, an area of our website which provides you with easy access to the data we have used, and data we think you’ll find interesting. As promised in our launch blog, we have now added our historic transport datasets which you can find...
Valuing natural capital in infrastructure
This week, government has launched a consultation on its draft policy statement on five environmental principles, to be enshrined in the Environment Bill. The announcement follows hot on the heels of last month’s publication of the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity. This landmark report made a decisive link between the economy and nature, suggesting...
Learning the lessons for a highly renewable future
The last few months have been a busy time for UK energy policy. The government published its long awaited Energy White Paper, The Climate Change Committee produced its 1,000 pages of advice to the government on the level of the next carbon budget, and HM Treasury published its interim report on the costs of the...
Opening up our data
Here at the Commission, data underpins our work. It helps us understand the state of infrastructure in the UK, how well it is performing for us, and what infrastructure we might need in the future. Because it’s so important, we’ve been working to make it easier for you to access and use. Welcome to our...
Better defining ‘levelling up’ is a crucial step to achieving it
Some form of regional inequality has been a persistent feature of the UK. Not only are there profound differences between regions (i.e. North and South), there are also inequalities within regions. Pockets of low productivity and heightened levels of deprivation exist in both successful and unsuccessful places. But these are not set in stone; changing...