By Vivienne Russell | 29 April 2013
The Treasury’s National Infrastructure Plan lacks strategic vision and clear priorities, MPs said today.
A report from the Public Accounts Committee lambasts the plan as being no more than a ‘long list of projects requiring huge amounts of money’ and said it was not ‘credible’ in the current economic climate.
While investment in infrastructure was crucial to stimulating economic growth, the committee said it had not been convinced that ‘current proposals represent a rigorous plan with clear priorities for action or with a clear programme for delivery’.
The committee called on the Treasury to work ‘more forcefully’ with other Whitehall departments, regulators and investors to agree priorities for projects and the ways costs will be identified and contained. There were particular concerns about the costs that could be passed on to consumers.
The latest version of the National Infrastructure Plan, published in December 2012, lists more than 500 projects costing an estimated £310bn. Most concern energy and transport. The PAC said that as almost two-thirds would be wholly owned and financed by the private sector, consumers would bear most of the costs through increased bills and fares.
PAC chair Margaret Hodge said: ‘Family budgets are already badly squeezed and inevitably those on the lowest incomes will be hit hardest.
‘The government needs to urgently assess the impact on consumers and how this can be contained.’
The PAC also called on investors in infrastructure projects to be transparent about their costs and rewards. Taxpayers needed to be assured that returns on investment were reasonable and that any government support was justified.
