National Infrastructure Commission

Our Chair Sir John Armitt welcomes publication of the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which has been introduced to Parliament, saying it "covers all the bases". The Bill sets out a range of measures designed to deliver the government’s programme of housebuilding and infrastructure reforms through reforming the operation of the planning system, many of which reflect recommendations made in the Commission’s second National Infrastructure Assessment. Among the measures included in the Bill are: - Bill discounts for residents and funding of local projects for communities hosting new energy generation and transmission infrastructure - Introduction of strategic spatial development strategies across England to better join up development and infrastructure needs - A ‘first ready, first connected’ approach giving priority connections to the power grid for clean energy projects - National delegation of planning committees to streamline housing planning decisions - A Nature Restoration Fund to support larger environmental interventions that secure environmental improvements - More streamlined consultations for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, including an overhaul of the system for challenging consenting decisions. See Sir John's full comments below:

Our Commissioner Nick Winser CBE FREng - lead Commissioner on our report last month on electricity distribution networks, and also the government's Electricity Networks Commissioner - has just finished giving evidence to the House of Lords Industry and Regulators committee enquiry on 'The energy grid and grid connections', answering members' enquiries on progress on ensuring the country's low voltage and high voltage grids are fit for the UK's electrified future. Across the session Nick shared the Commission's latest thinking on topics ranging from connections, speeding up planning, spatial energy planning and strategic investment, and the extent to which these and other issues were propelling, or holding back, progress on the decarbonisation and expansion of the electricity network. On the question of the queue for connection, he told peers that there was "no time to lose" in implementing the existing planned reforms to the connections process in a deliberate and speedy way to help speed the country through the transition to the Clean Power 2030 target. Nick noted on planning issues that since his original 2023 transmission grid report things were a lot further forward, but there was still a lot of work to do, given there are an increasing number of projects needing to go through the DCO processs. For distribution networks the challenges are not as urgent, he noted, advising that our recent report has for example proposed simple changes around what should be covered under 'permitted developments' which should help speed up the expediting of local grid expansion. On strategic planning of the networks, Nick noted there is already a greater transparency of the overall future picture than there was when he published his networks report. While it wasn't as easy to plan strategically for the distribution networks, he said it was important there was a "flight path of expenditure" that can set a trajectory for future investments and be flexed, as more information about that demand becomes available. You can watch the session again here: https://lnkd.in/eU4As_CY

The Climate Change Committee's advice to government for the Seventh Carbon Budget - published this morning - highlights the significant contribution that the electrification of #heating & #driving (EVs) will make to lowering UK emissions up to 2040. Positively, their advice aligns well with the conclusions that we drew in our second National Infrastructure Assessment.

Last Friday we published our new report 'Electricity distribution networks: Creating capacity for the future. We launched it to an online audience of guest from across the #energy and wider #infrastructure sectors, and you can watch it via the link below. In the recording our Chair Sir John, Commissioners Andy Green CBE and Nick Winser CBE FREng, Director of Policy Margaret Read and CEO James Heath summarise the key findings set out in the report before engaging in an extended Q&A session with guests. https://lnkd.in/ewZrCDHE

Acting early on investment in our #distribution networks will also have the benefit of improving the resilience of the system and lead to earlier realisation of the benefits of electrification and provide opportunities to manage the overall cost of the transition to a fully electric UK. To do that, the report makes recommendations in a number of areas: * Better definition of system needs through greater strategic planning and government providing Ofgem with more strategic guidance about its role in managing this shift * Changes to how the network is regulated, including simplified price controls rebalanced around a broader range of long term objectives * Stronger incentives and minimum standards to improve customer service in the connections process * Progress on flexibility and digitisation, and reviewing security of supply standards * Speeding up delivery of network infrastructure through adjustments to the planning system and action on supply chains and skills. You can find the full report on our website: https://lnkd.in/eHD3mGhw

This morning we've published "Electricity distribution networks: Creating capacity for the future" - the final report of our year-long study into the steps needed to ensure Britain's low-voltage local electricity networks are fit-for-purpose to support growth and help deliver the UK's #netzero goals. Demand on the networks has been in a 'steady state' for several decades - but that demand is going to increase rapidly as we electrify the economy. Plus, more renewable generation is going to increase the number of connection requests for the network. So, we think there needs to be a shift to proactive investment to ensure capacity is available where and when it is needed - investing ahead of need is we think now a lower risk that simply waiting to respond to demand. Failing to do so could lead to bottlenecks and delays, such as have been experienced with the transmission network. Here's the news story about our report: https://lnkd.in/eFm4Hfas

One of the ways our graduate analysts learn on the job is interrogating and delving deep into the myriad datasets we use to shape our policy recommendations. In his new post on our website Kabith Sivaprasad has done just that, exploring and unpicking the updated dataset which underpins the Commission's #connectivity metric. This metric is a crucial element that shapes our work on intra-urban and inter-urban transport connectivity and its role in driving sustainable economic growth. Find out what he discovered here: https://lnkd.in/egine8Ez

Something to keep an eye out for this Friday: we'll be publishing the final report of our study on Britain's #Electricity Distribution Networks, which will make recommendations to government on how these networks can keep pace with growing demand for electricity and support the UK's #netzero #energy goals.

The Commission is pleased to support the publication of the #InfraDiversityCharter, developed in partnership with companies across the #infrastructure industry by Infrastructure Matters. Our Deputy Chair Julia Prescot CBE spoke at yesterday afternoon's launch event, and along with colleagues from the Commission secretariat has engaged in helping development of the five principles the Charter focuses on: Attraction. Retention. Progression. Leadership. Data & feedback. With a ten-year infrastructure strategy on the horizon, and with significant investment needed across all areas of infrastructure to deliver growth, secure net zero, and improve the UK's resilience to climate impacts, the sector will need to ensure it pulls out all the stops to retain and attract people into the sector as a long term career option. The Charter sets out commitments for the sector to follow in order to do that. As Julia writes in her foreword to the Charter: "It is designed to be a living framework to drive action and share best practice, laying out practical steps for individuals, organisations and the industry to attract and retain more diverse talent, break down barriers, create better and more productive workplaces - and ultimately meet the challenges of the future." Find the Charter here: https://lnkd.in/eZWWYdb9

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves today signalled government support for a new plan for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor to harness the region's economic potential - eight years on from the Commission's 2017 report on what we then called the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc. Our 2017 report - Partnering for prosperity - showed that creating well-designed, well-connected new communities and one million new homes in the region, in a sustainable way, would require significant and strategic investment in the region's strategic and local transport system, water supplies and energy infrastructure. In today's speech, the Chancellor confirmed plans for new reservoirs across the Arc, a new Interchange station at Tempsford and further roads investment as part of this new commitment, along with a range of other infrastructure related announcement. Our Deputy Chair Julia Prescot CBE said in response: "The green light to unleash the Oxford to Cambridge corridor’s full economic potential is welcome after a number of false starts and I’m pleased the government’s ambition matches the scale of transformation we envisaged in our original report in 2017." Read Julia's full response to the key announcements on our website: https://lnkd.in/e2scBKJp