The Institution of Civil Engineers’ latest State of the Nation report has warned that “tough choices” must be made over prioritising future infrastructure projects and highlighted inadequate resilience to flooding and the decline in maintenance of flood defences, with water ranked as "adequate for now.".

More frequent extreme weather events will make it increasingly difficult to operate the UK’s infrastructure networks in all conditions at the level of service we expect, and expectations of availability will need to change, according to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

ICE said there are some difficult decisions ahead regarding just how resilient the UK should be and also what networks can and should operate 24/7 and in what conditions.

In its State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report published today – a “scorecard” report which grades the UK’s Transport, Energy, Flood, Waste and Water networks from A to E - the leading engineering body said more needed to be done if we are to have world class infrastructure – in particular on the issue of resiliency given its impact on the economy and the major challenges ahead. No sector is ranked in the A grade of Fit for the Future – defined as infrastructure is well-maintained and in good condition,  excess capacity to cope with major incidents and clear strategic leadership with good plans to develop the sector to meet the needs of the next five years.

 The Report shows that only two out of the six infrastructure networks are deemed as “adequate for now”. 

• Energy:  Grade C- minus “requires attention” (2010 Grade: D)
• Flood Management: Grade C- minus “requires attention” (2010 Grade: C)
• Local Transport: Grade D- minus “at risk” (2010 Grade: D)
• Strategic Transport: Grade B “adequate for now”  (2010 Grade: B)
• Waste: Grade C+ plus “requires attention”(2010 Grade: C)
• Water: Grade B “adequate for now” (2010 Grade: B)

This was  highlighted by the “at risk” or “requires attention” grades for Flood Management, Energy and Local Transport networks - due to the narrowing gap between supply and demand for energy, inadequate resilience to flooding and the decline in maintenance of both flood defences and local roads following investment cuts.

The ICE report said resilience – including the “domino effect” where the failure of one system can affect the operation of another - should be embedded into the criteria used as a basis for making decisions on priority infrastructure projects, to better reflect future challenges.

It also warned however, that while we need to build the UK’s resilience, our infrastructure cannot be resilient to every eventuality, and that it will become more difficult to operate all infrastructure networks, at all times, in all conditions. It said a shift in the public’s expectations on infrastructure availability would be needed.

"It will become more difficult to run all services in all conditions"

State of the Nation report Chair and ICE Vice President, Keith Clarke CBE, said:

“As the 2013/14 winter floods showed, unplanned interruptions in our networks are costly to society and the economy. They happen because we are trying to run all services at all times, and are deemed unacceptable as the public expect a certain level of service. Government ultimately bears the risk for the resulting impact."

“It is becoming clear that extreme weather events will become more frequent, and it is time that factors such as availability, resilience and the “domino effect” across the networks when one network fails –as we saw recently when our flood defences were overwhelmed and this in turn disrupted transport, energy, water and waste networks - are rooted into the criteria used to make decisions on which projects go ahead so new infrastructure is more “future proofed”.”

“But, importantly, we must all recognise that our infrastructure cannot be resilient to everything and it will become more difficult to run all services in all conditions – it will also not be cost effective.  Funding will always be constrained as there are only two sources – tax and user charging - both ultimately falling on the consumer. The balance between the two is a choice for the Government of the day, but irrespective of where it comes from, both are constrained resources and must be used efficiently.”

Key ICE recommendations incude:

On strategic decision making and leadership, Government should:

• Expand the criteria used as a basis for making decisions on priority infrastructure projects to reflect major future challenges– criteria should include resilience, availability, the pathway to a low carbon economy and better acknowledge “interdependencies” across networks – or how one sector impacts on another.
• Be prepared to make tough choices regarding the levels of resilience in the UK’s infrastructure networks and the appropriate levels of service/availability - and work with industry to manage public expectation.
• Ensure the right regulatory environment exists to incentivise private infrastructure operators to build resilience into infrastructure.
• Be appropriately resourced to make and implement decisions on key issues affecting the UK’s resilience or competitiveness, such as aviation capacity.
• Provide more clarity, certainty and transparency for potential investors through the regularly published National Infrastructure Plan project pipeline - by including more detail on investable projects, their status, planning approval, ownership structure and revenue streams.

 On Flood Management sectors:

• The Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authorities should fully implement a holistic approach to flood management, which includes a wider range of measures in addition to conventional flood defences – including building the physical resilience of communities by making property and infrastructure more resistant.
• Government should provide the longer term certainty needed to improve flood resilience by committing to a long term capital and maintenance programme for Flood Management which protects funding beyond the current 5 year cycle.

Keith Clarke added:

The onus is on Government to make these choices for public sector infrastructure, and it must also build on its efforts to provide the right regulatory incentives to improve resilience within private sector infrastructure.”

Click here to read the Report in full