The National Infrastructure Commission has today launched a consultation to gather views as part of its new study into the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure network.
The consultation paper will inform the Commission’s study on the resilience of the UK’s national infrastructure, commissioned by Chancellor Philip Hammond in October 2018.
The study will examine what actions the Government should take to ensure that the UK’s infrastructure can cope with future changes, disruptions, shocks and accidents – from increased risks of flooding due to climate change, to ever-increasing dependencies on digital technologies.
The scoping phase is the first in a two-stage approach to identify the proposed methods, range of frameworks and pilots that will be analysed during the main phase of the study.
The main stage will cover pilot analysis and case studies, concluding with the publication of a final report with recommendations, provisionally by spring 2020.
Key outcome from the overall resilience study is expected to be a framework to consider resilience across economic infrastructure for application during the next National Infrastructure Assessment.
The scoping consultation is intended to gather views on resilience priorities and on issues emerging from sectoral interdependencies.
The consultation will run until 1 April 2019.
Launching the scoping consultation, the NIC said that services such as utilities, transport and telecommunications are becoming increasingly sophisticated and interdependent. However, while this has enabled efficiency improvements and better delivery, it may also mean infrastructure systems are more vulnerable to threats or hazards and disruption could have wide reaching impacts, the consultation paper says.
Key questions the Commission is inviting comment on are:
- What are the key questions that the next National Infrastructure Assessment should answer about resilience?
- On the basis of your response to question 1, what issues should be prioritised in the resilience study?
- Are there specific (e.g. policy, knowledge, data sharing or other) barriers to addressing resilience emerging from cross-sectoral interdependencies?
- Are there any examples in which barriers to resilience issues, arising from sectoral interdependencies or other causes, have been addressed or overcome?
Chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission Sir John Armitt said:
“Whether it’s how we get to work, how we heat and light our homes or how we keep in touch with friends and family, our infrastructure services have become increasingly sophisticated and increasingly interdependent.
“Our latest study will examine how best to ensure that our infrastructure systems are fit for managing shocks or disruptions they might face.
“We want to hear from those across the public and private sectors, and researchers, about the priorities and the questions that the framework we’re developing should seek to address, and the barriers to developing resilient infrastructure that our study should seek to overcome.”
Deadline to submit responses to the NIC Resilience Study Scoping Consultation is 1 April 2019 – click here to download the consultation paper
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