All Recommendations

By the end of 2026 government should work with the relevant standards bodies to identify and update core technical engineering standards to factor in future climate change

In relation to surface water flooding, government should progress measures to control the area of impermeable surfaces, accurately identify areas where the most properties are at risk and set a clear long term target to reduce properties at risk. The appropriate flood risk management authorities should develop single joint plans to deliver the reductions in risk. These plans should be supported by devolving funds from national budgets with local public and private contributions, particularly from water companies where their assets need to be improved to reduce the risk. Full details of the recommendations can be found in Reducing the risk of surface water flooding

By 2025, government should set a long term measurable target to reduce the number of properties likely to be flooded by rivers or the sea. Progress against this target should be tracked using the Environment Agency’s new National Flood Risk Assessment and take account of property level protection.
In setting and delivering the target, government should:

• use as a starting point the Commission’s proposed standard of protection against flooding of an annual likelihood of 0.5 per cent and 0.1 per cent for densely populated areas
• make use of National Flood Risk Assessment 2 and future iterations of the Environment Agency’s Long Term Investment Scenarios to quantify risk and establish targets for cost effective risk reduction
• adopt different standard of protections in local areas, where cost effective and based on discussions with affected communities
• invest in line with the profile set out by the Commission
• maximise the use of nature based and catchment solutions and consider the additional benefits beyond flood mitigation that they bring
• adequately fund wider resilience measures to prepare for and recover from flooding
• require planning authorities to ensure that from 2026 all new development is resilient to flooding from rivers with an annual likelihood of 0.5 per cent for its lifetime and does not increase risk elsewhere.

Government and Ofwat should ensure plans are in place to deliver additional supply and demand reduction of at least 4,000 mega litres per day. Action to deliver this twin track approach should include:

• the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development and Price Review process ensuring that at least 1,300 mega litres per day is provided by the mid 2030s through (i) additional strategic water transfers and (ii) additional supply infrastructure
• the water industry maintaining its objective to halve leakage from 2017-18 levels by 2050, with Ofwat agreeing five year commitments for each company (as part of the regulatory cycle) and reporting on progress
• the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs enabling companies to implement compulsory metering beyond water stressed areas by 2025, by amending regulations as appropriate and requiring all companies to systematically roll out smart meters as a first step in a concerted campaign to reduce water demand to 110 litres per person per day and to reduce non-household usage by 15 per cent by 2050.

Government should require infrastructure network and asset plans for the flood management, transport and water sectors to maximise the opportunity to improve natural capital by taking an integrated and strategic approach to maintenance and renewals. Infrastructure operators in these sectors should:

• publish regular reports on the state of environmental water quality and biodiversity on their estates or affected by their assets
• develop and fund maintenance and renewal strategies that deliver a net improvement in environmental water quality and biodiversity by altering operating and maintenance regimes and materials, incorporating new design features reflective of nature based solutions, and in some cases moving spend from the development of ‘new’ to existing assets.

Guidanceand objectives should be delivered by:

• the Department for Transport to inform National Highways’ Road Investment Strategies and Network Rail’s Control Period 8
• the Environment Agency as part of its enabling and supporting programmes included in the next Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment plan, due to start in 2027
• Ofwat working with the environmental regulators, to inform operation, maintenance and renewals activities in 2030-35.

Government should implement its waste collection reforms and materials regulations, to meet the 65 per cent recycling target by 2035, and work towards higher rates of recycling thereafter:

• without further delay, implement and provide clear guidance on how the collection reforms, known as ‘simpler recycling’, packaging extended producer responsibility scheme and deposit return scheme will work
• by 2026, develop individual recycling targets for all local authorities and provide financial support for transitional costs
• expand the single use plastics ban to cover a wider range of hard to recycle plastic items
• introduce a measurement system, from 2025, on the composition and waste treatment destinations for commercial and industrial waste in England. Where the market is not likely to deliver improved recycling of this waste, government should develop future policies to increase recycling rates further.

Government should create stronger incentives for investment in the recycling infrastructure that will be needed in the future, by banning future energy from waste capacity that does not include carbon capture and storage. Government should increase the landfill tax to ensure it remains more expensive than energy from waste. It should also limit demand for existing unabated energy from waste:

• with immediate effect, local authorities should not sign or renew long term contracts for waste services relying on energy from waste without credible plans for carbon capture and storage
• local authorities with existing long term contracts should transition away from unabated energy from waste at end of contract, or at break clauses where possible
• government should deliver its commitment to bring energy from waste into the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2028.

By 2025, government should introduce legislation to make at least five yearly reviews of the National Policy Statements for Energy, Water Resources and National Networks a legal requirement. These statements should include clear tests, refer to spatial plans and set out clear timelines and standards for consultation during the pre-application stage. Reviews should consider the appropriateness of existing and future technologies and thresholds. Government should amend legislation to bring onshore wind into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project system as soon as possible. By 2025, government should also set out the criteria for triggering reviews of other National Policy Statements.

By July 2024, government should introduce a system of modular updates to National Policy Statements linked to primary or secondary legislation to ensure clarity on how future legislative change relates to National Policy Statements.

By the end of 2024, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should introduce a data sharing platform for environmental data with clear data standards, sharing relevant developer and local nature recovery strategy data. By the end of 2025 statutory consultees should develop a library of historic and natural environmental mitigations for different kinds of infrastructure. Statutory consultees should also receive and use new resource to gather baseline data and agree strategic mitigations for urgent infrastructure, firstly for wind generation and electricity transmission, and then water resources, by the end of 2025.

By the end of 2023, government should develop a framework of direct benefits for local communities and individuals where they are hosting types of nationally significant infrastructure which deliver few local benefits.

By the end of 2023, a central coordination and oversight mechanism should be developed, reporting to the Prime Minister or the Chancellor, with measurable targets for reducing consenting times for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

By May 2024, performance indicators for statutory consultees operating under a cost recovery model should form part of compulsory service level agreements with developers, with budget implications for failure to meet agreed service levels. Developers’ applications should only be accepted for examination once a service level agreement is in place.

Government must empower regulators to facilitate investment in a strategic way that address the long term challenges of net zero, energy security and climate resilience by:

• setting out a long term strategic vision for each of the regulated sectors, through strategic policy statements, updated during each Parliament
• requiring regulators to enhance the role of competition by introducing legislation to remove any barriers to the use of competition and focusing ‘standard’ periodic price controls on the maintenance of existing networks and using tendering processes for strategic enhancements, with a clear, public justification required where tendering is not used.

The Design Group will develop further guidance that explains how design leaders, using an effective, structured process, should develop and embed project specific design principles. By 2024, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority should incorporate this guidance within its assurance review regime and expect all Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to follow it.