National Infrastructure Plan 2014: key points

Roads Investment Strategy – the government is committing £15 billion between 2015-16 and 2020-21 to continue the transformation of the Strategic Road Network, including major projects for the A303, A1, A47 and A27

Flood defences – the government has published its 6-year programme of investment in flood defences, allocating the £2.3 billion capital funding provided at the 2013 Spending Round

Interconnectors – the government will ensure that interconnectors can participate in the 2015 capacity auction; it will estimate the eligible capacity of each interconnector on a case-by-case basis

Swansea Tidal Lagoon – the government will start closer discussions with Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd to establish whether a potential tidal lagoon project at Swansea Bay is affordable and value for money for consumers (without prejudice to the planning decision on the project)

Moorside – HM Treasury has reached a cooperation agreement with Toshiba, GDF Suez and NuGen with the aim of issuing a statement of intent to provide a guarantee to assist the financing of a new nuclear power plant at Moorside, subject to due diligence and ministerial approval

Broadband connection vouchers – the government will provide up to £40m to extend the SME connection voucher scheme to March 2016 and to more cities; vouchers will be available on a first come, first served basis

700MHz spectrum change of use – further details of the clearance process for high-value spectrum will be set out in 2015 ahead of a further auction of mobile broadband spectrum, subject to the development of delivery options by DCMS and Ofcom

Barking Riverside – the government will agree a principal heads of terms agreement for a loan of £55 million to support the extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside, to unlock the delivery of 11,000 homes

Brent Cross – the government supports the London Borough of Barnet and GLA plans for the regeneration of Brent Cross which could deliver 7,500 homes, subject to a full business case

Ebbsfleet – the government is making the first £100m available to fund infrastructure and land remediation at Ebbsfleet, taking forward its commitment to build the first new garden city for almost 100 years, which will deliver up to 15,000 new homes

Access to Ebbsfleet – the government will undertake a review of transport provision for the Ebbsfleet area, including Crossrail, High Speed 1, Southern and Southeastern rail services

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park redevelopment (Olympicopolis) – the government will invest £141m to support the London Legacy Development Corporation and Mayor of London’s plans to build a new higher education and cultural quarter at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Northstowe – the government will take forward development at Northstowe, to support accelerated delivery of up to 10,000 homes, and evaluate the feasibility and economic impact of using this model at a wider scale to support and accelerate housing supply

Crossrail 2 – the government will provide £2 million between 2014-15 and 2015-16 to support the development of a comprehensive business case produced jointly by the Department for Transport and Transport for London, to complete ahead of the next Spending Review; this will be combined with a full options appraisal of all potential major transport projects in London, including an extension of the Bakerloo Line to improve connectivity in South East London, and the devolution of South Eastern rail services to London

Ultra-low emission vehicle research and development – the government is announcing up to £50 million between 2017-18 and 2019-20, to support innovation in manufacturing of ultra-low emission vehicles in the UK, based on a government contribution of £25 million for which it will seek match-funding from industry.

Ultra-low emission vehicles in London – the government will provide an additional £10 million between 2017-18 and 2019-20 to increase ultra-low emission vehicles in London, in support of the ambition to introduce an Ultra-Low Emission Zone by 2025

Support for ultra-low emission vehicles – the Roads Investment Strategy sets aside £15 million between 2015-16 and 2020-21 for a national network of chargepoints for ultra-low emission vehicles on the Strategic Road Network; the government is also announcing further detail of three funds totalling £85 million to support ultra-low emission taxis, buses and cities

Local highways maintenance grant – the government has already announced that local highways maintenance funding will be increased, totalling £5.8 billion over the next six years, and can now announce how the formula grant will be broken down by region

Clean Vehicle Technology fund – the government will provide up to £4 million to extend the Clean Vehicle Technology fund in 2014-15 which funds road vehicle modification by local authorities in order to reduce air pollution

Chesterton Rail Station – as announced by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister the government will provide £44 million between 2014-15 and 2016-17 to build a new rail station at Chesterton, linked to Cambridge Science Park

Cycle City Ambition grants – as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister on 27 November, the government will provide £114 million between 2015-16 and 2017-18 to enable the continuation of the Cycle City Ambition scheme in the eight cities it already covers; this will provide capital funding for better cycle infrastructure such as segregated lanes and improved junctions

Access for all – the government will increase the funding for the Access for All scheme by £60 million between 2015-16 and 2018-19, improving platform access at around 20 stations

Norwich in Ninety – the government supports the key recommendations of the Great Eastern Main Line Task Force, including upgraded infrastructure and the latest Rolling Stock. Bidders for the next Anglia Franchise, which will start in October 2016, will be incentivised to submit plans for achieving these recommendations for services to Norwich in 90 minutes (- presumably that’s from London. Ed.) and associated benefits along the Great Eastern Mainline

East West Rail – the government will consider the outputs of the Network Rail study into the East West Rail central section (Bedford to Cambridge) as part of the planning for Control Period 6 (2019-2024)

Dawlish rail services – the government will support Network Rail in its work to improve the resilience of the railway at Dawlish; additionally, it will ask Network Rail to examine wider issues surrounding connectivity to and within the South West peninsula; specifically, Network Rail will consider alternatives to the current mainline route to the South West via Dawlish, including an alternative route via the north side of Dartmoor through Okehampton; this work will feed into Network Rail’s Initial Industry Plan for Control Period 6 (2019-2024)

Bath City Centre Congestion Relief – the government welcomes the strategy put forward by Bath and North East Somerset Council and the West of England LEP to improve transport capacity East of Bath and reduce city centre congestion; the government will consider a business case, which will be developed by Bath and North East Somerset Council that assesses the viability of proposals including a park and ride, as well as a park and rail service, located to the East of Bath

Compulsory Purchase Reforms – proposals will be published for consultation at Budget 2015 to make processes clearer, faster and fairer, with the aim of bringing forward more brownfield land for development

National Transport Policy – the government plans to lay the National Networks National Policy Statement before Parliament this month for consideration and a formal vote

Planning: establishing the principle of development – the government will take forward measures to ensure that the principle of development need only be established once

Planning: section 106 negotiations – the government will take steps to speed up section 106 negotiations, to reduce delays to the planning process

Planning: speed of decisions – the government will keep the speed of major decisions under review, with minimum performance thresholds increasing to 50% of major decisions made on time as performance improves