Government commits £2.3bn to flood defences

The six-year flood defence programme includes £57m for the Oxford flood alleviation scheme, £80m for the Humber estuary and more than £17m for the Tonbridge and Yalding area in Kent.

The government has also committed to spend £15.5m in Somerset on flood defences over the next six years, including £4.2m on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

The National Infrastructure Plan, launched at the Institution of Civil Engineers today, also sets out progress made on previously announced housing and regeneration schemes, including the first £100m investment to provide infrastructure and land remediation at the planned Ebbsfleet garden city.

There is also a commitment to a heads of terms agreement for a loan of £55m to support the extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside, to prepare the way for the delivery of 11,000 homes.

The government is also extending the capital settlement for affordable housing by £957m in 2018/19 and 2019/20 in a bid to get 275,000 new affordable homes built over the course of the next Parliament.

The National Infrastructure Plan also includes the £15bn road network improvement plan published yesterday.

Overall, the 140-page document sets out plans for £460bn-worth of public and private investment to the end of the decade and beyond.

With a general election coming up in May, the document also claims that average annual investment under the current coalition government has been £47bn per annum, compared to £41bn between 2005 and 2010 under Labour.

Commercial secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton said: “The fifth National Infrastructure Plan shows that the government is delivering on infrastructure, with a long term strategy to make sure the UK tackles decades of underinvestment and gives us the infrastructure we need to compete in the 21st century.

“As part of our long-term economic plan, we’ve set out government priorities with clear delivery milestones and reformed planning rules to drive forward the most important projects.”

Laing O’Rourke chief executive Anna Stewart said: “Long-term visibility of the government’s approach to infrastructure is a crucial factor in our own ability to plan for the future. The National Infrastructure Plan, and the detailed project pipeline, gives us the confidence to invest and ensure we have the highly skilled workforce to deliver the roads, rail and power networks that this country needs.”

The National Infrastructure Plan 2014 can be downloaded at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381884/2902895_NationalInfrastructurePlan2014_acc.pdf

Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk