In a letter to the new Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, ICAEW has urged Government to take action urgently and reverse the trend by increasing investment in public infrastructure. It also calls for new fiscal rules to support greater private investment.
In its paper ‘Funding UK Infrastructure’, ICAEW argues that for all the new initiatives announced by Government in recent years, public investment in economic infrastructure appears to be static or declining until the end of the decade, while attempts to encourage greater private investment have not been successful. It also reveals:
-Private finance initiative (PFI) contracts have been drying up, with only £0.7bn of projects reaching financial closure during 2014-15.
-Although the Government announced that the total National Infrastructure Pipeline had increased from £411bn in 2015 to £425.6bn in 2016, the near term profile of investment grew by less than the overall growth in the economy, with investment in energy infrastructure declining.
-Investment in social infrastructure – schools, hospitals and housing – is also static or declining, with claimed increases in social housing investment being offset by expected reductions in capital spending by housing associations.
Vernon Soare, ICAEW Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, said: “In the past we have seen too much talk and not enough action on infrastructure. The combination of a new Chancellor, low interest rates and Brexit means that now is the time for decisions to be taken and investment to be made. Wavering on projects such as a new runway in the south east of England and a lack of public investment have meant that we are not getting the economic benefits that infrastructure can generate. If Government leads the way, private investment will follow.”
The new Chancellor has already made the decision to change fiscal rules to permit borrowing to fund investment. However, priority now needs to be given to infrastructure investments that provide a positive return to the taxpayer and so pay for themselves, while PFI contracts need to be brought back onto the balance sheet so that they no longer bypass fiscal targets and can be properly evaluated based on whether they provide value for money to the taxpayer.
Vernon Soare adds: “With cost cutting and austerity only getting the UK so far, it is now necessary to generate revenue growth. That will require more investment in key infrastructure projects and spades in the ground. There is now the potential to use borrowing to fund an immediate increase in infrastructure investment.”
(Source: ICAEW )
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