Recommendation 2

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government partially agrees with the recommendation. We remain committed to the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) and to the plans it sets out to deliver an infrastructure revolution. The NIS was published in November 2020, and recognised that “the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced enormous short-term disruption, and may have long-term effects on the way people live, for instance with less daily commuting. However, this does not undermine the long-term arguments for infrastructure.” After more than a year and a half since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, we have observed changes (e.g. to travel patterns) but there is not enough evidence to justify amending the NIS at this stage, whilst the longer-term impacts are still uncertain. In setting a long-term infrastructure strategy, the NIS sought to address the long-term issues that have held back UK infrastructure, including ‘stop-start’ public investment, insufficient funding for regions outside of London, slow adoption of new technology, policy uncertainty that undermines private investment, and project delivery plagued by delays and cost overruns. The NIS’ role as a long-term strategy provides certainty to a variety of stakeholders and is designed to take into account a wide range of potential scenarios. Examples of major transports projects covered in the strategy include High Speed 2, the Integrated Rail Plan, the A66, the Lower Thames Crossing, and the A303 Stonehenge. Individual projects will assess and address any changes required on a case-by-case basis, and government keeps major projects under constant review. The Government will continue to refine its approach to infrastructure investment in response to the impacts of COVID-19 on demand for transport infrastructure in the years to come. To do this, we will work closely with the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and industry to understand the longer-term effects COVID-19 may have on UK transport infrastructure, and the implications for policy. As demand will vary in different parts of the country and for different modes of transport, at an individual project level, business cases must demonstrate a sensitivity to a range of different possible demand scenarios. The government will use this process to ensure that planned infrastructure takes into account temporary and structural changes in travel behaviour.