Tariffs, wars, pandemics: We can’t predict the next crisis - but we can stop bad infrastructure planning

1 April 2025, 15:21 | Updated: 2 April 2025, 15:09

By Sam Gould

The government has created a new body, the National Infrastructure Service and Transformation Authority (NISTA) with end-to-end responsibility for its infrastructure plans.

NISTA combines and enhances the work of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).

It also brings together responsibility for ALL the UK’s infrastructure needs under one roof – schools, hospitals, defence, public transport, water, electricity, even big digital transformation projects.

In June, the government will also publish a new 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy (10YIS) and announce the outcome of its multi-year spending review.

All this is happening against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

We can’t plan for or anticipate everything, and the impact of tariffs, war, and pandemics can have big ripple effects. We’ve seen this time and again.

In this potentially volatile context, getting the basics of infrastructure planning and delivery right is essential.

NISTA needs to hit the ground running, and the 10YIS must set a clear direction of travel for investors and the supply chain.

It needs to do more than just combine the functions of the NIC and IPA – it needs to fundamentally change the UK’s approach to planning and delivering infrastructure.

Here are six things NISTA should prioritise to the clarity that industry needs to crack on to get the job done.

One, NISTA needs the ability to challenge decision-makers. It will sit within HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office, but it needs to be able to share impartial advice and be a ‘critical friend’ to government.

This will help avoid some of the mistakes that have plagued recent mega-projects, like HS2.

Projects should be stopped from going ahead until their designs are advanced enough (this makes cost estimates much more accurate) and they shouldn’t be delayed or cancelled for short-term political reasons.

Two, NISTA needs to enable long-term thinking by building cross-party and cross-government support for essential national projects.

Major projects can take decades to plan and deliver. Stop-start delivery driven by short-termism and using infrastructure as a political football raises costs and delays benefits.

NISTA’s role includes clarifying what infrastructure services the UK will need in the future. As it does this, it should help build the political support required to ensure that projects can respond to needs efficiently.

Three, NISTA needs to build a credible project pipeline.

This will be essential to underpin long-term thinking about infrastructure and reducing uncertainty, because it is this that has deterred investment and weakened the supply chain.

The pipeline needs to be transparent, prioritised, stable, up-to-date and integrated across all sectors. That will enable efficient resource planning, drive innovation and investment, and reduce delivery costs and delays.

Four, to support successful delivery of the 10YIS and pipeline, NISTA will need to raise capability across government.

One way to do this would be using tools that already exist like the Construction Playbook and Constructing the Gold Standard. NISTA should ensure these are implemented on a ‘comply’ basis, rather than ‘comply or explain’.

Fifth, the UK’s infrastructure needs won’t be met without public support. That means electricity pylons near people’s houses and new reservoirs for towns and cities.

NISTA needs to engage with the public to win their support.

Almost two-thirds of people said major infrastructure projects are poorly communicated to them.

There needs to be much clearer and more persuasive communication about infrastructure.

NISTA can help articulate the importance of infrastructure investment – explaining the wider benefits, as well as the costs, and celebrate successes. (There are successes – the Elizabeth line and the Thames Tideway Tunnel are two recent examples.)

Sixth and finally, despite the many challenges, it’s important to remember that the UK does a lot well. It has established a strong global reputation for strategic infrastructure planning, finance and delivery.

There’s a growing appetite among governments globally for sharing best practice. The IPA’s International Unit has been at the forefront of that work and NISTA should retain its functions.

It’s important the UK government continues informing and learning from global best practice on strategic infrastructure planning and delivery.

It’s been said the best defence is a good offense. Against uncertainty, whatever causes it, the best defence is good planning.

With the establishment of NISTA, the UK has an excellent opportunity to plan well and deliver what the country needs.

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Sam Gould is director of policy and external affairs at the Institution of Civil Engineers.

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