The Armitt Review Final Report
In October 2012 the Labour Party commissioned Sir John Armitt, the former Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, to undertake an independent Review of long term infrastructure planning in the UK, looking at: whether a new institutional structure can be established that better enables the long term decision making necessary for strategic infrastructure planning; and how political consensus can be forged around these decisions.
Following a call for evidence, followed by a period of detailed consultation with a range of individuals and organisations experienced in the promotion, funding and delivery of UK infrastructure, Sir John has published his final report.
In the report, Sir John calls for the establishment of an independent National Infrastructure Commission to identify the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs and monitor the plans developed by governments to meet them. The Commission would consider how the UK’s future needs could be met in a targeted and efficient manner with value for money being a primary consideration.
The report argues a new approach is needed to prepare the country for the major challenges ahead, such as population growth and climate change. The comprehensive review examined the difficulties faced by successive governments in making long-term decisions to meet these challenges under the current system.
The Armitt Review makes the following core recommendations aimed at achieving cross-party political consensus, public support and investor certainty for long-term decisions on the UK’s energy, transport, water, waste, flood defences and telecommunications needs:
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A new independent National Infrastructure Commission to look 25-30 years ahead at the evidence for the UK’s future needs across all significant national infrastructure and set clear priorities, for example, nationwide flood prevention or energy supply.
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This National Infrastructure Assessment would be carried out every 10 years and include extensive research and consultations with the public, local government, NGOs, regulators and other interested groups or individuals.
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A Parliamentary vote on the evidence-based infrastructure priorities would have to take place within six months of their publication, to avoid delays.
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Within 12 months of this vote Government Departments would have to form detailed 10 year Sector Plans of how they will deliver and fund work towards these priorities.
- Parliament would then vote on these 10 year plans and the permanent National Infrastructure Commission would scrutinise the ability of these plans to meet the 25-30 year national priorities and report to Parliament annually on their delivery.