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The UK government has pledged more money for “crumbling” hospitals, schools and courts as part of a ten year infrastructure strategy. <\/p>\n
It will spend \u00a39bn a year over the next decade to fix and replace buildings, but is yet to publish a list identifying major projects such as new roads and rail lines.<\/p>\n
The strategy is a cornerstone of the government’s plans to put some life into Britain’s sluggish economic growth, and promises \u00a3725bn of funding over a decade.<\/p>\n
The announcements on Thursday focussed on what the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones called a “soaring maintenance backlog” in health, education and justice buildings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The strategy promised a more rounded plan for major schemes, but the publication of a new pipeline of hundreds of projects has been delayed until mid-July.<\/p>\n
Jones said the projects will be shown on a map of the country.<\/p>\n
He said the government would be doing “fewer things better instead of the same things badly”, a sign that the list of more than 600 projects inherited from the Conservatives may be cut back.<\/p>\n
There was no formal green light at this stage for the long-promised northern high-speed rail link between Liverpool and Manchester.<\/p>\n
Plans for the link were first revealed in May 2024 after the cancellation of HS2’s northern leg.<\/p>\n
The Treasury also indicated it was looking at new models for funding economic projects, including public private partnerships, and would report back by the autumn Budget.<\/p>\n
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Crumbling public buildings are a sign of the decay that has seeped into our everyday lives because of a total failure to plan and invest.”<\/p>\n
But Conservative shadow minister Richard Fuller said the previous government “had to deal with a series of economic disruptions including the impact of Covid, the unwinding of quantitative easing across all advanced economies, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia”.<\/p>\n
“The global impact of these were to disrupt supply chains, increase inflation, and raise interest rates, ” Fuller said.<\/p>\n
Despite these shocks, the last government increased public spending on capital projects, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The \u00a3725bn will be spent on projects including rebuilding and maintaining schools, colleges, and hospitals, and prisons will be expanded.<\/p>\n
There will be an environmental planning reform package of \u00a3500m over three years to speed up how Natural England and the Environment Agency process planning applications.<\/p>\n
Almost \u00a38bn will go on flood defences over the ten years, and \u00a31bn has been earmarked for repairing bridges, flyovers and roads.<\/p>\n
There is \u00a339bn for affordable homes, and \u00a315.6bn for regional transport.<\/p>\n
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the investments “will both boost productivity and support the decarbonisation of our economy”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n