The Chancellor didn’t tell us much more than we already knew about the new Government’s plans for infrastructure over this Parliament and it seems that the Government isn't entirely sure about how infrastructure investment will be spent over the next five years. A National Infrastructure Delivery Plan is due next Spring and will provide more insight into the key projects that will be delivered during this Parliament.
What is good news is the Government’s support for devolution, private finance, smaller infrastructure projects and housing...
The new Government has reiterated its support for devolution of power from Whitehall with the announcements of the £1.8 billion Growth Deals to Local Enterprise Partnerships and the commitments to the West Midlands Combined Authority, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Greater London Authority. However, the £1.8 billion was announced by Greg Clark in March 2016, so this is not new money.
To encourage private finance the Government has extended the life of the UK Guarantees Scheme, but that probably reflects the fact that they haven’t used the scheme for anything like the £40 billion as they had stated at the start in 2012. Large infrastructure projects do take a long time to come to close. The initial pipeline of infrastructure projects set to benefit from Private Finance 2 (PF2) will not be announced until early 2017. In our experience, that means that any projects announced may take at least a couple of years before there is a “spade in the ground”.
The Chancellor focused on smaller infrastructure projects rather than super-sized infrastructure projects which should mean that every pound has more impact at a local level. The issue with large national projects is that they take decades to happen, their costs seem out of proportion, and they have little positive impact on ordinary people. Therefore, it was good news that he announced that the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) would invest £1.1 billion by 2020-21 in funding to relieve congestion and deliver long-awaited upgrades on local roads and public transport, with a further investment of £220 million for key pinch-points on strategic roads.
We were expecting a big announcement on housing. The Chancellor did commit to a £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund which will target new private house building with the aim of delivering up to 100,000 new homes in areas of greatest housing need. Grant funding restrictions will be relaxed to allow providers to build a mix of low-cost ownership and affordable rent properties. The NPIF has committed £1.4 billion to deliver 40,000 houses by 2020-21. Also, £1.7 billion has been invested from NPIF in an accelerated construction scheme with the intention of speeding up construction of new homes.
The elephant(s) in the room…
We still need to address the lack of capacity and skills in the construction industry. If we are to build more houses and more infrastructure to encourage investment in the UK pre and post-Brexit we need to increase this training through apprenticeships and further education. If we don’t, then there is a risk we will miss the new housing targets.
The costs of materials are likely to go up because of the fall in the value of the pound. This may mean that the funds announced will not be enough to build the houses and fund the transport projects to the same extent. We can hope that market forces will at some point reverse the fall but with the growing UK debt mountain and the lack of certainty around the UK’s trading and economic status post-Brexit, this will be a challenge.
On a good note…
At least Birmingham now has £5 million to upgrade its rail service. Get rid of those pesky Autumn leaves on the line!
You can read our initial response to the Autumn Statement here. For more information please contact Mark Cook.
Supreme Court publishes key decision for those working in the UK’s gig economy.
From 6 April 2021, it will be the responsibility of medium and large private sector organisations to assess whether contractors working through an intermediary come within the ambit of IR35.
The 'Chocolate Snowman Appeal' is an amazing initiative that Anthony Collins Solicitors' (ACS) employees take part in every year.
The Building Safety Bill (the Bill) is said to be the most significant and wide-ranging change to the regulatory environment for higher risk building (HRBs) for over 45 years.
On 4 November 2020, the Restriction of Public Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) came into force; exit payments for the public sector were capped at £95,000.
The case was brought by the Official Receiver who sought disqualification orders under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986) against the seven trustees of Kids Company and its CEO. It illustrates well the tension between the role of a fulltime paid CEO of a large charity and the role of its board as voluntary trustees/directors.
At the end of 2020, The Charity Governance Code was updated or 'refreshed' as it is termed on its website.
Anthony Collins Solicitors is today (Thursday 11 February) revealing the scale of its social impact during 2020.
In their first podcast of this series, current and future trainees will discuss their journey and route to securing a training contract at Anthony Collins Solicitors.
A recent prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") demonstrates the importance of organisations regularly inspecting, maintaining, and if necessary, repairing or replacing street furnitur
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.