National Infrastructure Assessment consultation to start this autumn

The National Infrastructure Commission has confirmed the UK’s second National Infrastructure Assessment will be published in the second half of 2023 and consultation will commence this autumn.

The Commission’s Corporate Plan for the next three years sets out the process it will follow to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations to help the UK prepare for the challenges and opportunities of future decades.

The project will begin with publication of a baseline analysis of the current state of each of key infrastructure sectors.

This data-led analysis will be published in the autumn, alongside the Commission’s proposals for the strategic themes and main priorities it intends to explore in the next Assessment.  

The Commission will then undertake engagement on these topics, supplemented by a range of data collection and analysis to inform its final report and recommendations to the Government in 2023.

The Corporate Plan notes that this will include considering potential scenarios for long term behaviour change as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Commission is planning future engagement with industry bodies, business, not for profit organisations and the general public in its efforts to capture a broad picture of the country’s infrastructure needs for 2050 and the measures needed to address them.

The whole process will be supported by an expert panel of industry specialists, academics and regulators who will assess and challenge the Commission’s emerging thinking.

The full list of members of the three expert panels – on Net Zero, Levelling Up and Climate Resilience can be found here.

Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, said: “As we embark on preparing the next Assessment we will build on the broad approach to engagement we undertook for the first report, and of course bear in mind developments in the policy and technological landscape since 2018, as well as the potential long term impacts of Covid-19.  

“The Commissioners and secretariat are eager to begin the process to help ensure the UK’s infrastructure can be ready to support our society and economy in 2050 and beyond.”