The National Infrastructure Commission has launched a consultation as part of its responsibility under Government terms of reference to produce a National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) once every Parliament.

Although operationally independent, the National Infrastructure Commission is currently in interim form until being established in legislation. The paper is a consultation on a possible approach to developing a NIA and represents views of the interim Commission, not Government Ministers.

The Commission’s remit covers economic infrastructure. In line with this, the NIA will look across transport, energy, water and sewerage, flood defences, digital and communications and waste.

Introducing the consultation, Lord Adonis, interim  Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission said:

“Developing the National Infrastructure Assessment will be an enormous piece of work.”

“Every aspect of the UK’s economic infrastructure will need to be studied, assessed, and understood. But just as importantly, the National Infrastructure Commission will need a firm grasp on the interrelationships between and across sectors as well as within them.”

“The Commission will seek to draw together expertise across every relevant sector, alongside unique and independent analysis to develop an assessment of the nation’s infrastructure of the highest possible standard.”

NIA will look at interdependencies across sectors 

The NIA will assess the infrastructure system as a whole. It will look across sectors, identifying and exploring the most important interdependencies and resilience implications, showing both the opportunities and risks associated with the interactions between different sectors.

The Commission will also look at cross-cutting issues which affect the delivery of infrastructure including governance, sustainability, funding and financing, costs, resilience, performance measurement and project appraisal methodology.

The Commission intends to develop a National Infrastructure Assessment in two key stages:

 Vision and priorities: The first stage of the NIA process will be to determine a ‘vision’ of the UK up to 2050, to identify long-term infrastructure need in light of that vision and to highlight priority areas for action over the medium-term. This report will be published in summer 2017.

A National Infrastructure Assessment: The Commission will consult widely on the Vision and Priorities report to inform its final conclusions on the UK’s infrastructure needs and priorities to 2050.

CECA: Historically development of UK infrastructure has lacked a long-term strategy

Civils contractors today said that a successful assessment of the UK’s infrastructure needs will secure the economy and deliver the projects the nation will rely on in the future.

Commenting, Head of External Affairs for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) Marie-Claude Hemming said:

“Historically, the development of the UK’s infrastructure has lacked a long-term strategy. This has meant mega-projects such as Crossrail and High Speed 1 have taken too long to develop and build, and have been held up by a lack of political consensus."

“These delays have been costly for the UK taxpayer, and with a strategic approach, these costs could have been avoided."

“The National Infrastructure Commission is ideally placed to deliver this vision, which will reduce costs to the UK taxpayer, relieve congestion on our nation’s transport system, and enable the UK to keep up with out international competitors by meeting the needs of business and the public.”

The National Infrastructure Assessment will be published in 2018, containing recommendations for how the identified infrastructure needs and priorities should be addressed. Government will be required to formally respond to the recommendations made.

Responses to the consultation should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – deadline for submissions is 5th August 2016.

Click here to access the consultation document