Neil Sansbury, managing director UK & Ireland, Ramboll, looks at the future of the UK’s infrastucture.
The UK is at a pivotal moment in its journey toward building a more resilient, low-carbon, and economically inclusive society. With public finances under pressure and against a backdrop of global instability, the Government’s recent Spending Review is a welcome sign of intent and optimism. However, its success will rest on discipline, patience, focus, and long-term systems thinking. Infrastructure needs to not only serve today’s needs but be built with resilience in mind to ensure it can deliver into the future.
Long-term strategy, not short-term points scoring
To meet the UK’s infrastructure, net zero, and economic growth goals, investment must be better aligned with national and local priorities, particularly in decarbonisation, resilience, and regeneration. That means connecting infrastructure planning with other public sector priorities such as affordable housing, quality education, access to healthcare, and nature.
By way of example, the ambition that underpinned the Government’s recent Planning and Infrastructure Bill is welcome, but for the reforms to have the intended effect will also require proper resourcing and public engagement. Nor should sustainability be traded for speed or brushed aside in the name of ‘growth’. Instead, the questions we must ask are ‘what are the problems that need to be addressed’ and ‘how can these be solved sustainably?’ because the reality is that sustainable growth is the only growth that is worth pursuing.
Infrastructure must enable a greener, more resilient energy future
High industrial energy costs remain a significant problem for UK productivity, driven by underinvestment in grid infrastructure and delays to vital upgrades. In some cases, the system has paid wind farms not to generate power due to a lack of grid capacity. This is not a failure of ambition; it’s an absence of long-term planning, resilience and systems thinking.
The Spending Review’s commitments for funding for floating offshore wind, carbon capture, hydrogen, and small modular reactors, represents a welcome shift in focus, particularly in the wake of the launch of Great British Energy. This should lead to a shift towards a cleaner, more secure energy future, but we must also recognise that policy alone won’t be enough. Instead, it will be important to set about delivering on faster grid upgrades and smarter energy storage which will require close collaboration between Government and industry.
Unlocking delivery: skills, procurement, and smarter partnerships
The £1.2 billion investment in skills and training announced in the Review is not just timely, it’s essential. With an ageing workforce and growing demand for green jobs, the UK cannot deliver its infrastructure goals without addressing the skills gap. It will also be vital to ensure that this training is focused on the areas the next generation of workers will need. That should include a particular focus on improving the use of digital design tools and modern methods of construction.
But investment in training will also need to be accompanied by other reforms. To unlock delivery at scale and speed, a smarter procurement system is needed that is focused on long-term outcomes, not just the lowest cost. Contracts should also be centred on collaboration and involve designers and contractors as soon as possible in project decisions.
Resilience is the outcome, not just the ambition
The problems created by years of underinvestment won’t be solved overnight. A step-change is needed, and the Spending Review could be the beginning of that, but not if it is viewed as a short-term political tool. What we require is a strategic blueprint for national renewal that delivers investment in resilient systems, not disconnected assets, nature-based solutions, not grey infrastructure, and inclusive growth instead of just GDP figures.
This will require us to move beyond making announcements to instead taking action that focuses on systems, sustainability, and shared outcomes. The UK is under pressure from the huge demands on ultimately finite public resources and continued global volatility – but we must stay the course. We have to turn words into action to build in resilience across our society so that it is best prepared for the challenges to come.