Place

Local areas and the regions of the country experience varying levels of economic and social opportunity, and infrastructure can play an important role in helping to narrow these gaps.

The Commission’s work explores how better connectivity can enable local economies to grow, as well as how well designed infrastructure can help people everywhere to enjoy a good quality of life. It focuses not just on differences between regions but also within them.

The Commission’s programme will set out its understanding of the ways that infrastructure can support economic growth across all regions and quality of life at the local level. Future work will build on recommendations made in the Rail Needs Assessment and the lessons from our work on regional growth, to demonstrate the role infrastructure can play in supporting places across the country to fulfil their potential.

The Commission is also looking specifically at how to maximise the benefits of infrastructure policy and investment for towns and suburban areas in England that can support regeneration and levelling up, with a particular focus on transport and digital infrastructure.

With a growing population, there is increasing pressure on local government to deliver new homes and communities. The National Infrastructure Assessment highlighted how problems with the deployment of economic infrastructure essential to any home – electricity, water, broadband – are creating barriers to improving the efficient delivery of new housing.

Further research published in 2020 – drawing upon discussions with developers, planners and infrastructure providers – highlights concerns with the relevant legal, regulatory and governance frameworks and argues for greater transparency and coordination along with better allocation of costs and risk to enable more effective delivery of the infrastructure needed for new communities.

Many of our larger towns and cities face significant challenges from traffic congestion, which can inhibit their economic development and reduce quality of life for people who live and work in them. It’s important that government and cities take action to ensure that space in cities is used effectively through investing in fast, frequent public transport systems. But this requires a new approach to how urban transport is planned and funded.

That’s why the Commission believes metro mayors and other city leaders need more devolved powers to enable them to better develop integrated strategies for transport, employment and housing; to be effective, these powers should be backed up by stable funding plans that enable more confident in long term planning. Our new study on infrastructure, towns and regeneration has a particular focus on urban transport.

Digital connectivity has become an essential service, vital to the country’s economic growth and to people’s quality of life. Businesses, charities and public sector organisations are dependent on digital technology to operate effectively. Individuals rely on digital services to perform day-to-day tasks, access public services and shop online. Future innovations will increasingly rely on digital connectivity, from connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) to new applications of virtual reality.

The National Infrastructure Assessment recommended that government should prioritise extending full fibre coverage across the whole country to avoid the UK being left behind – and saving up to £5.5 billion in operating costs over the next 30 years. Significant progress has been made since then to expand full fibre coverage and the pace of rollout has been increasing.

As well as offering benefits for home broadband users, enhanced digital connectivity will also facilitate the development of 5G mobile communications and smart infrastructure, enabling more agile and more efficient management and maintenance.

The Commission’s Design Group was established in May 2019 following a recommendation in the National Infrastructure Assessment, which highlighted how projects can benefit from good design. Chaired by Professor Sadie Morgan, it brings together leaders from engineering, architecture, transport and landscape, to champion design excellence in infrastructure.

In February 2020 the group published the Design Principles for National Infrastructure. This set out four principles – climate, people, places and value – that should guide the planning and delivery of major projects. The government has subsequently committed to the principle of embedding good design in all infrastructure projects in its National infrastructure Strategy.

The ‘places’ principle stresses the role of infrastructure in giving places a strong sense of identity. The principle envisages that well planned and well-designed infrastructure will make a positive contribution to local landscapes within and beyond the project boundary. It calls on projects to be inspiring in form and detail, respecting and enhancing local culture and character without being bound by the past.

The arc running between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge is one of the fastest growing, productive and successful areas of the country, playing a crucial part in its economic prosperity. Estimates produced four years ago suggested that by keeping house building at the 2016 level of 14,000 a year the area might support around 335,000 new jobs to 2050, increasing economic output by around £85bn per annum; doubling the housebuilding rate increases that to around 1.1m new jobs and £163bn per annum.

Affordable housing, integrated transport and other infrastructure are essential to maximising its potential as a global knowledge-intensive cluster, protecting its environment and securing new homes and jobs. This study recommended a new deal between government, local areas, and communities capable of supporting up to 1 million new homes by 2050. A new government spatial plan announced in February 2021 will adopt an arc-wide approach to planning, in line with the Commission’s recommendations.

London’s transport systems were increasingly under pressure as a result of growth. New areas in and around London for housing need to be found to meet projected population growth, which has been forecast to grow to 10 million people by 2030. In 2016 the Commission reviewed the strategic case for additional large scale transport infrastructure and a clear strategic case for Crossrail 2 to happen.

While it is difficult to predict the long term impact of the pandemic on patterns of public transport use in London, continued delay in making big strategic decisions risks constraining economic growth in the future

This study, published in 2016, sets out a series of recommendations to ensure good mobile connectivity is available where we live, work and travel, and that the UK’s road and rail network is made 5G ready. Since then, progress has been made on widening 4G coverage and enabling the early rollout of 5G technologies.

In February 2020, a follow-up review on mobile connectivity on UK roads and railways called for further progress in four areas: government leadership; access to trackside land; overcoming commercial barriers through a competitive process and filling evidence gaps.

Government should commit to decarbonising road freight by 2050, announcing plans by the end of 2021 to ban the sale of new diesel powered HGVs no later than 2040. To support this:

• government should, in conjunction with distribution and transmission network operators, prepare detailed assessments of the infrastructure required to enable the uptake of battery electric or hydrogen HGVs, including the refuelling requirements at depots and key rest areas on major freight routes. For battery electric, these assessments should include enhancements to distribution networks alongside alternatives to reinforcement, such as energy storage. For hydrogen, these assessments should cover the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen, including any dependency with the decarbonisation of the heating supply system.
•  Ofgem, as part of the next energy distribution price review (RIIO‑ED2) starting in 2023, should include a clear requirement for distribution network operators (in partnership with the freight industry) to map out the infrastructure upgrades and opportunities for alternative solutions, such as energy storage, required to enable large scale freight van charging at depots.

Government should undertake detailed cross‑modal analysis, using a corridor‑based approach, of the long term options for rail freight’s transition to zero emissions, including low carbon rail services and the scope for road based alternatives. It should then publish, by the end of 2021, a full strategy for rail freight to reach zero emissions by 2050, specifying the investments and/or subsidies that it will provide to get there.

To help manage peak time congestion on the urban transport network, local authorities should include a plan for urban freight within the infrastructure strategies they are developing. These plans should review local regulations to incentivise low congestion operations, consider the case for investments in infrastructure such as consolidation centres, and identify the land and regulatory requirements of new and innovative low congestion initiatives.

Government should produce new planning practice guidance on freight for strategic policy making authorities. The guidance should better support these authorities in planning for efficient freight networks to service homes and businesses as part of their plan making processes. This new planning practice guidance, which should be prepared by the end of 2020, should give further detail on appropriate considerations when planning for freight, such as the need to:

• provide and protect sufficient land/floorspace for storage and distribution activities on the basis of population and economic need, with particular consideration for the floorspace requirements for last mile distribution and consolidation centres;
• support the clustering of related activities within a supply chain, minimising the distance that goods must be moved and maximising the potential for efficient operations;
• maximise the potential for freight trips to be made at off peak times; and
• accommodate deliveries and servicing activity at the point of delivery.

Government should develop a data standard for freight data collection to support local authorities, outlining the requirements for technological capability, data requirements, and data format. Such a standard must seek to ensure consistent data quality and format across technologies to allow regional and national aggregation, and should be complete by the end of 2020.

Government should establish a new bi‑annual ‘Freight Leadership Council’, inviting representatives from BEIS, DfT, MHCLG, DEFRA and HM Treasury, devolved administrations, all freight modes and parts of the supply chain. This Council’s main focus should be on strategic, long term issues – specifically supporting decarbonisation of road and rail freight by 2050. This Council should hold its first meeting before the end of 2020.

The Commission recommends that government should set out a nationwide full fibre connectivity plan by spring 2019, including proposals for connecting rural and remote communities. This should ensure that full fibre connectivity is available to 15 million homes and businesses by 2025, 25 million by 2030 with full coverage by 2033. To achieve these targets:

• Ofcom should promote network competition to drive the commercial rollout of full fibre, by deregulating where competition is effective and guaranteeing a fair bet on risky investments before regulating any uncompetitive areas.
• Government should part subsidise rollout to rural and remote communities, beginning by 2020, starting with the hardest to reach areas and community self-build.
• Government and Ofcom should allow for copper switch-off by 2025.
• Government and Ofcom should take action to cut the cost of full fibre deployment including:
  • Government should ensure the processes for obtaining wayleaves and connecting new builds are the same for digital infrastructure as other utilities by 2019.
  • Local government should designate ‘digital champions’ to improve telecoms processes such as street work permissions and access to publicly owned assets.
  • Ofcom should monitor the accessibility of Openreach’s duct and pole infrastructure by levels of usage.

The Commission recommends that government should set out a pipeline of pot 1 Contracts for Difference auctions, to deliver at least 50 per cent renewable generation by 2030, as part of the transition to a highly renewable generation mix. Government should:

• Move technologies that have recently become cost competitive, such as offshore wind, to pot 1 following the next Contracts for Difference auction in Spring 2019. Pot 1 should be used for the overwhelming majority of the increase in renewable capacity required.
• Publish indicative auction dates and budgets for the next decade by 2020.
• Over time take whole systems costs into account in Contracts for Difference auctions, as far as possible.
• Consider whether there is a case for a small-scale, pot 2 auction in the 2020s, if there are technologies which are serious contenders for future pot 1 auctions.
• Not agree support for more than one nuclear power station beyond Hinkley Point C, before 2025.

The Commission recommends that government needs to make progress towards zero carbon heat:

• Establishing the safety case for using hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas, followed by trialling hydrogen at community scale by 2021.
• Subject to the success of community trials, launching a trial to supply hydrogen to at least 10,000 homes by 2023, including hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage.
• By 2021, government should establish an up to date evidence base on the performance of heat pumps within the UK building stock and the scope for future reductions in the cost of installation.
• Set a target for the rate of installations of energy efficiency measures in the building stock of 21,000 measures a week by 2020, maintained at this level until a decision on future heat infrastructure is taken. Policies to deliver this should include:
  • Allocating £3.8 billion between now and 2030 to deliver energy efficiency improvements in social housing.
  • Government continuing to trial innovative approaches for driving energy efficiency within the owner occupier market.
  • Government setting out, by the end of 2018, how regulations in the private rented sector will be tightened and enforced over time.

The Commission recommends that government should set a target for recycling 65 per cent of municipal waste and 75 per cent of plastic packaging by 2030. Government should set individual targets for all local authorities and provide financial support for transitional costs. The government should establish:

• Separate food waste collection for households and businesses (to enable production of biogas) by 2025.
• Clear two symbol labelling (recyclable or not recyclable) across the UK by 2022.
• A consistent national standard of recycling for households and businesses by 2025.
• Restrictions on the use of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging (PVC and polystyrene) by 2025.
• Incentives to reduce packaging and for product design that is more easily recyclable by 2022.
• A common data reporting framework for businesses handling commercial and industrial waste by the end of 2019, ideally through voluntary reporting but if necessary by legislation.

The Commission recommends that government, Ofgem and local authorities should enable the roll out of charging infrastructure sufficient to allow consumer demand to reach close to 100 per cent electric new car and van sales by 2030. Government should address the implications of technological innovation in long term transport planning processes, including the next rail control period and road investment strategy.

• Ofgem should take on the role of regulating the interaction between electric vehicle charge points and the electricity network immediately, ensuring that electric vehicle charging and vehicle to grid services contribute to the optimisation of the energy system. Government, industry and Ofgem should work together to set minimum standards for a network of interoperable, smart charge points.
• Ofgem should commission electricity network operators to work with charge point providers to identify potential anticipatory investments required to accommodate public charging infrastructure. Opportunities for investment within the current price control period should be identified by Summer 2019.
• Government should place a requirement on local authorities to work with charge point providers to allocate 5 per cent of their parking spaces (including on-street) by 2020 and 20 per cent by 2025 which may be converted to electric vehicle charge points.
• Government should subsidise, by 2022, the provision of rapid charge points in rural and remote areas, where the market will not deliver in the short term.
• Government should establish a centre for advanced transport technology in the Department for Transport to bring together work on technological innovation and ensure its implications are central to future investment proposals. This should include developing and overseeing the Commission’s proposed connected and autonomous vehicles framework.

The Commission recommends that government should make £500 million a year of funding available from 2025/26 to 2034/35 for local highways authorities to address the local road maintenance backlog.

The Commission recommends that cities should have the powers and funding they need to pursue ambitious, integrated strategies for transport, employment and housing.

• By 2021, metro mayors and city leaders should develop and implement long term integrated strategies for transport, employment and housing that will support growth in their cities.
• By 2021, government should ensure city leaders have the right powers to deliver these integrated strategies, including the power for metro mayors to make decisions on major housing development sites.
• Government should set out devolved infrastructure budgets for individual cities for locally determined urban transport priorities in line with the funding profile set out by the Commission. Budgets for 2021-2026 should be confirmed by mid 2019. Government should pass legislation, by 2020, requiring cities to be given regular five year infrastructure budgets.
• Government should allocate significant long term funding for major capacity upgrades in selected growth priority cities, in line with the funding profile set out by the Commission. Cities benefiting from major projects should make commitments on housing delivery and provide at least 25 per cent of funding. Priority cities should be identified by mid 2019, with long term investment commitments agreed by 2020. Future rounds should take place no more than twice a parliament.

The Commission recommends that government should set out a strategy to deliver a nationwide standard of resilience to flooding with an annual likelihood of 0.5 per cent by 2050 where this is feasible. A higher standard of 0.1 per cent should be provided for densely populated areas where the costs per household are lower. To deliver the strategy:

• By the end of 2019, government should put in place a rolling 6 year funding programme in line with the funding profile set out by the Commission. This should enable efficient planning and delivery of projects and address the risks from all sources of flooding.
• The Environment Agency should update plans for all catchments and coastal cells in England before the end of 2023. These should identify how risk can be managed most effectively using a combination of measures including green and grey infrastructure, spatial planning and property level measures.
• Water companies and local authorities should work together to publish joint plans to manage surface water flood risk by 2022.
• The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and planning authorities should ensure that from 2019 all new development is resilient to flooding with an annual likelihood of 0.5 per cent for its lifetime and does not increase risk elsewhere.

The Commission recommends that government should ensure that plans are in place to deliver additional supply and demand reduction of at least 4,000 Ml/day. Action to deliver this twin-track approach should start immediately:

• Ofwat should launch a competitive process by the end of 2019, complementing the Price Review, so that at least 1,300 Ml/day is provided through (i) a national water network and (ii) additional supply infrastructure by the 2030s.
• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should set an objective for the water industry to halve leakage by 2050, with Ofwat agreeing 5 year commitments for each company (as part of the regulatory cycle) and reporting on progress.
• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should enable companies to implement compulsory metering by the 2030s beyond water stressed areas, by amending regulations before the end of 2019 and requiring all companies to consider systematic roll out of smart meters as a first step in a concerted campaign to improve water efficiency.

The Commission recommends that government should publish good quality data on infrastructure costs and performance. All public bodies taking decisions on strategic economic infrastructure should publish the forecast costs and benefits of their major infrastructure projects at each appraisal stage and at a suitable point after completion, by the end of 2019. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority should work with departments to ensure that costs are comparable between sectors.

The Commission recommends that design should be embedded into the culture of infrastructure planning, to save money, reduce risk, add value, support environmental net gain and create a legacy that looks good and works well, by:

• Government ensuring that all Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, including those authorised through hybrid parliamentary bills, have a board level design champion and use a design panel to maximise the value provided by the infrastructure.
• Design panels for nationally significant infrastructure projects having regard to design principles to be published by the National Infrastructure Commission based on advice received from the national infrastructure design group.

The Commission recommends that government should deliver long term certainty over infrastructure funding by adopting the funding profile set out in the ‘fiscal remit’ table in Spending Review 2019 and other future spending plans.

The Commission recommends that government should maintain access to the European Investment Bank if possible. If access is lost, a new, operationally independent, UK infrastructure finance institution should be established by 2021. To enable this, government should consult on a proposed design of the new institution by Spring 2019. The consultation should cover:

• Functions, including provision of finance to economic infrastructure projects in cases of market and coordination failures; catalysing innovation; and acting as a centre of excellence on infrastructure project development, procurement and delivery.
• A clear mandate, including sound banking, additionality and having a wider economic and social impact.
• Governance to safeguard the operational independence of the institution.

The Commission recommends that local authorities should be given further powers to capture a fair proportion of increases in the value of land from planning and infrastructure provision. To enable this, government should:

• Remove pooling restrictions on Section 106 in all circumstances, through forthcoming secondary legislation by 2020.
• Remove the ballot requirement for upper tier authorities’ powers to levy a business rate supplement of 2p or less in the pound for infrastructure, except where the supplement exceeds one third of scheme costs by 2021.
• Give local authorities powers to levy zonal precepts on council tax, where public investments in infrastructure drive up surrounding property values by 2021.
• Provide greater certainty in compulsory purchase compensation negotiations by including independent valuations early in the process to be paid for by the acquiring authority by 2021.

• 1a: Government should progress work on East West Rail, the Expressway and new settlements through a single co-ordinated delivery programme, with cross-government ministerial commitment and oversight. The aim of this programme should be to unlock opportunities for transformational housing growth through the creation of well-connected new communities. As part of this programme Government should commit:
  • £1bn to deliver the infrastructure necessary for a high quality and resilient rail commuter service between Bicester and Bedford, accelerating delivery of this section of East West Rail to a target date of 2023;
  • to accelerate work on the development of the new East West Rail line between Bedford and Cambridge, and commit to open the line by 2030; and
  • to deliver the ‘missing link’ of the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, accelerating development work to deliver a clearly-defined and agreed route by 2025, enabling construction to begin as part of the next Road Investment Strategy (RIS 2) and be complete by 2030.
• Key milestones and decision points in the development of East West Rail and the Expressway should be subject to “in principle” agreement to the development of significantly more ambitious proposals for housing growth in the arc, including major new settlements and urban extensions, and subsequently, progress in identifying, evaluating and designating sites. “In principle” agreement should be provided within 12 months. The schemes should be futureproofed to ensure the potential for expansion and improvement is not permanently and prematurely closed.
• 1b: Government should seek to introduce fast, direct services to London to enable growth in the arc between Bicester and Bletchley and improve connectivity between London and Aylesbury. Any such improvements should be contingent on local authorities’ commitment to major development between Bicester and Bletchley and around existing settlements.
• 1c: Government should work with the private sector and the relevant local authorities to agree funding packages and progress schemes to support housing and employment growth now. These should include:
  • essential works required to enable passenger services between Oxford and Cowley no later than 2019
  • the acceleration of East West Rail phase 3 works around south Cambridge to enable the deliver of a Cambridge South station in 2022 as part of Control Period 6.
• Substantial private sector and local contributions, reflecting the benefits that these parties gain, will be required to enable the delivery of these schemes.

• 2a: Government and local authorities should work together, through a robust and transparent process, to designate locations for new and expanded settlements by 2020. This should involve:
  • commissioning formal studies to identify and assess options for new settlements required, and potential locations for these settlements
  • consultation with communities, statutory agencies, infrastructure providers, wider stakeholders and public examination of proposed sites
  • formal designation of sites and the publication of such assessments as legally required.
• The Commission is optimistic that Government and local authorities will reach agreement on the scale and location of new settlements in the national interest. However, if agreement cannot ultimately be reached, the Secretary of State should designate these new settlements.
• 2b: Government should:
  • work with local authorities to establish appropriate delivery vehicles for new and expanded settlements across the arc, considering the role that can be played by locally accountable Development Corporations, Mayoral Development Corporations, the Homes and Communities Agency and Urban Development Corporations
  • establish New Town Development Corporations to deliver larger new and expanded settlements.
• In so doing, it should:
  • work with local authorities to define and agree the objectives, membership and reporting arrangements for new development corporations
  • provide a clear remit to support the economic success of large new settlements as centres of employment, and assist the development corporation by using wider policy levers to support local economic growth
  • explore the full range of options for funding development corporations’ programme of land acquisition, including providing public funding with a view to unlocking substantial private investment, and balancing considerations of short term affordability and long term value for money.

• Government should work with local authorities to put in place an independent design panel for East West Rail, the Expressway and new and expanded settlements across the arc by April 2018. This panel should work in concert with existing infrastructure design panels and new development corporations to specify, scrutinise and challenge settlement designs, plans and delivery, with a view to:
  • making most efficient use of new and existing infrastructure (including transport and utilities)
  • supporting positive social outcomes (including better mental and physical health)
  • achieving net gains in biodiversity and natural capital across the arc
  • improving quality of life for existing and future residents
• Government should establish arrangements for the long-term stewardship of valued community assets in each new or expanded settlement, placing responsibility and resources in the hands of the community – learning from both the Parks Trust in Milton Keynes and the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation
• It should ensure that strategic infrastructure, including new elements of East West Rail and the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, are planned and developed to achieve net gains in biodiversity and natural capital across the arc.

Improving connectivity between the cities of the North will not be sufficient to create the northern powerhouse, but is necessary. Transformations in transport connectivity should form part of a broader strategy incorporating improvements in education, workforce training, research and innovation, spatial planning and wider infrastructure investment.

To connect northern cities faster and more reliably than today, the Commission recommends that funding be provided to further develop the long-term plan for HS3, which should be conceived as a high capacity rail network, rather than a single piece of entirely new infrastructure. This plan must be fully integrated with proposals for maximising the benefits from currently planned investments.planned investments.

This should combine short term action with an ambitious long-term vision, which supports the overall plan for the HS3 network and brings together

• the upgrade of the Trans-Pennine line between Manchester and Leeds
• the design of the northern phase of the HS2 network, including connectivity between Leeds – Sheffield and Liverpool – Manchester
• proposals for the redevelopment of Manchester Piccadilly station.

It should comprise a long-term programme with the objective of reducing journey times to 30 minutes, alongside substantial capacity and frequency improvements. The first part of this should be a shorter-term plan, to be developed and implemented by TfN and Network Rail by 2022, to cut the journey time between these cities and to onward destinations by roughly 20 per cent from 49 to 40 minutes, enhance capacity and improve service regularity and frequency.

The design of the northern phase of HS2 should be taken forward by HS2 Ltd, working closely with TfN, to ensure that this is planned and delivered so as to facilitate the development of the HS3 network, enhancing connectivity between Leeds – Sheffield, Liverpool – Manchester (and its airport), and between Sheffield – Newcastle, as well as to onward destinations.

These organisations should work to together to deliver:

• detailed plans for the new east-west platforms 15/16 to facilitate delivery early in Control Period 6 and unlock the development potential of the Mayfield site
• a masterplan for the longer-term development of Manchester Piccadilly station as a whole, incorporating capacity for HS2 services and options for the delivery and timing of platform capacity for HS3
• proposals for funding and financing the station redevelopment, including for private sector and local contributions.

TfN should follow an approach that seeks to maximise the benefits of current and planned investments and integrates them with an ambitious longer-term plan, in developing and prioritising proposals for other major inter-city links through its Northern Powerhouse Rail strategy. This should include assessing the case and options for early enhancements to key routes and for improvement and redevelopment at gateway stations including Liverpool Lime Street.

Very substantial capital funding should be brought forwards, so that both schemes can be accelerated, with work beginning between Liverpool and Manchester in Roads Investment Strategy year 2017/2018 – two years ahead of schedule – and work between Manchester and Leeds also significantly fast-tracked.