National Infrastructure Assessment   |   Study

National Infrastructure Assessment 1 (2018)

Introduction

This first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment for the United Kingdom made a series recommendations for how the identified infrastructure needs and priorities of the country should be addressed

The first Assessment mades a series of recommendations, including on:

  • Low carbon energy – making a switch to low-carbon and renewable sources for both the country’s power and heating, combined with a move towards electric vehicles, would mean the customer of 2050 would pay the same in real terms for their energy as today
  • Digital technology – that the Government devise a National Broadband Plan by Spring 2019, to deliver full fibre connections across the whole of the country, including those in rural areas – this should ensure that the technology is available to 15 million homes and businesses by 2025, 25 million by 2030, and all homes and businesses by 2033
  • The future for the nation’s roads – that the Government work with councils and private companies to deliver a national network of charging points for electric vehicles and ensures that the impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles are taken into account when planning for the next rail control period and road investment strategy
  • Encouraging growth of cities – that Metro Mayors and city leaders develop and implement long-term strategies for transport, employment and housing in their areas, to support economic growth, with new powers and devolved infrastructure budgets. The National Infrastructure Assessment’s spending plans include funding for projects including Crossrail 2 in London, and Northern Powerhouse Rail linking the major Northern cities, and recommends a boost in funding for major cities totalling £43 billion to 2040, with cities given stable five-year budgets, starting in 2021
  • Tackling floods – that the Government should put in place a long-term strategy to deliver a nationwide standard of flood resilience by 2050 with funding for flood risk management increasing significantly over the coming decades
  • Cutting waste – that new national rules for what can and cannot be recycled be introduced, with restrictions on the hardest-to-recycle plastics, aimed at increasing rates and reducing the amount of plastics going to incinerators. This would also mean that all food waste is separated making it available to create biogas, so it can be used to heat people’s homes and potentially as a transport fuel.

More information on each chapter of the Assessment can be found in the tabbed content.

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National Infrastructure Assessment

Download the full Assessment
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Status:  Completed

National Infrastructure Assessment

An assessment of the United Kingdom's infrastructure needs to 2055 and beyond.

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Latest Updates

Letter to Environment Secretary from Commission Chair: floods policy

Letter to Environment Secretary from Commission Chair: floods policy

Commission Chair Sir John Armitt has written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon George Eustice MP, setting out the Commission’s views in response to to the government’s recently updated flooding and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England, launched on 14 July 2020.

11 Aug 2020 By
Cost analysis of future heat options (data)
Sun setting with atmospheric effect over traditional British houses and tree lined streets.

Cost analysis of future heat options (data)

23 Mar 2020
Infrastructure to support housing
Cover of the report Infrastructure to support housing

Infrastructure to support housing

13 Mar 2020
Evaluating the performance of private financing and traditional procurement
thumbnail of Evaluating the Performance of Private Financing and Traditional Procurement July 2019

Evaluating the performance of private financing and traditional procurement

26 Jul 2019
Methodology and findings of analytical framework project – annex
Aerial view over the new Severn Bridge

Methodology and findings of analytical framework project – annex

26 Jul 2019
Letter to the Chancellor on four tests for a successful National Infrastructure Strategy

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...

13 May 2019 By
Letter to BEIS Select Committee Chair Rachel Reeves MP on energy efficiency

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...

23 Apr 2019 By
Lessons Learnt: reviewing the process of the first National Infrastructure Assessment
thumbnail of Final NIA Lessons Learned March 2019

Lessons Learnt: reviewing the process of the first National Infrastructure Assessment

19 Mar 2019
Transport connectivity: discussion paper
thumbnail of Transport Connectivity discussion paper

Transport connectivity: discussion paper

20 Feb 2019
Transport connectivity dataset
A traffic jam in Manchester

Transport connectivity dataset

20 Feb 2019
Phase 2 social research
thumbnail of Ipsos MORI – Phase 2 of social research – Final report

Phase 2 social research

Social research on the public's views on infrastructure services, to help inform the first National Infrastructure Assessment.

10 Jul 2018
Study of national infrastructure financing institutions
thumbnail of Eunomia NIC FinalReport – Slide Deck_v1.0 050718

Study of national infrastructure financing institutions

10 Jul 2018
Tidal power
The sea at low tide in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset

Tidal power

10 Jul 2018
Analysis of drought resilience
The bottom of a reservoir during a drought - Scotland

Analysis of drought resilience

10 Jul 2018

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