Responding to today’s speech (‘Build Build Build’, 30 June 2020) by the Prime Minister, Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, said:

“Building back better, greener and faster are welcome ambitions and it is critical that we take immediate steps to secure jobs and build confidence across supply chains.

“Opportunities remain to accelerate work on rolling out full fibre broadband, energy efficiency installations and the electric vehicle charging network. Such steps will help ensure our recovery locks in environmental gains for the long term.

“To attract private investment to build on the public funding, and to ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver, building schemes need to be set within a longer term strategy that gives clarity on the future direction of government policy.

“We look forward to seeing more details of the government’s plans over the coming weeks and, most importantly, in the National Infrastructure Strategy later in the year.”

Sir John stressed the need for long term infrastructure planning alongside short term stimulus measures to help build confidence in the economy in his letter to the Chancellor, sent last month.