10 Year Infrastructure Strategy Roundtable

Constructing Excellence

Constructing Excellence were recently hosted by McLaren for a roundtable delving into the key opportunities provided by the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.

The ten year infrastructure strategy plans to invest at least £725 billion in economic and social infrastructure. It aims to drive economic growth, raise living standards, and deliver a decade of national renewal through better infrastructure. It addresses historic underinvestment and inefficiencies by prioritising long-term certainty, coordination, and reform.

Key Themes & Findings

Constructing Excellence has identified a range of challenges and opportunities, building on our previous roundtable with Pinsent Masons:

Housing

  • Current housebuilding models cannot meet demand; a long-term, programmatic approach is needed.
  • Government’s Long-Term Housing Strategy (due late 2025) should ensure pipeline certainty and funding.
  • Industrialised construction and Net Zero housing are essential.

Planning

  • Digital tools and a national spatial planning approach can streamline processes.
  • Local authorities need investment and resources to handle increased applications.

Skills & Workforce

  • Skills shortages threaten delivery of £725bn planned investment.
  • Shift from new entrant training to whole workforce competency.
  • Introduce digital skills passports and strategic workforce planning.

Productivity

  • Construction productivity has declined (-0.6% annually since 1997).
  • Standardisation and industrialised methods could drive efficiency.
  • Target: 1% annual productivity improvement.

Procurement

  • Current bespoke models create friction; need standardised, outcome-focused approaches.
  • Use tools like Constructing Excellence’s Value Toolkit.
  • Greater focus on early design stages and collaborative contracting.

Private Investment

  • Industry seen as high-risk; need clear articulation of opportunities.
  • Explore PPPs, National Housing Bank, and new funding mechanisms.
  • Pipeline certainty is critical to attract capital.

Governance & Delivery

  • NISTA must be empowered to drive change and collaboration.
  • Infrastructure delivery should be de-politicised beyond election cycles.
  • Quick wins via short-term pipeline visibility.

Public Confidence

  • Improve perception of construction; showcase economic and social benefits.
  • Major projects must deliver on time and budget to avoid reputational damage.

Climate & Carbon

  • Strategy focuses on clean energy but ignores embodied carbon (60% of lifetime emissions in new homes).
  • Industry must green supply chains and adopt low-carbon materials.
Critical Success Factors
  • Skills and capacity building – ensuring that government policies and priorities are aligned with developing future skills not withstanding the current challenges around attracting global talent to deliver on the current skills shortages.
  • Productivity improvement through standardisation – this requires early supply chain involvement and greater collaboration with industry on their ability to deliver projects and the scale and pace required.
  • Clear investment models and pipeline visibility – there needs to be much more detail in the Infrastructure Pipeline to build confidence in the wider sector to invest in skills and capability,
What’s Next

The next in our series of Roundtables will focus on Procurement Reform hosted by Trowers & Hamlins. To find out more or get involved, get in touch.