Rachel Reeves warned tiny proportion of £834bn initiatives on monitor | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Rachel Reeves has been instructed that solely a tiny proportion of essential Government initiatives are on monitor forward of her Budget. The Chancellor is because of unveil her newest financial plans on November 26. A brand new Oxford Economics report, commissioned by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), has proven that solely 14% of infrastructure schemes within the Government Major Projects Portfolio – value £834billion in whole – are rated inexperienced for supply on time and funds. The doc, titled “Half-Built Britain: Unlocking the Nation’s Infrastructure Growth Plans”, states that many years of under-investment have compounded the issue, with the general public property going through a £49billion upkeep backlog.

It provides that 70% of bridges and tunnels within the UK are greater than 45-years-old. The CPA additionally warns that “fragmented policymaking and frequent departmental reorganisations have eroded institutional memory, left projects vulnerable to cost inflation, and deterred private investment – leaving Britain’s ability to deliver at scale and at speed lagging far behind comparable economies”.

There are 213 main initiatives within the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with a complete estimated whole-life price of £996billion, together with 68 main infrastructure initiatives.

Schemes included within the Government Major Projects Portfolio which can be delayed embody HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing.

Steven Mulholland, Chief Executive of the CPA, instructed The Express: “Political short-termism and constant reorganisation have hollowed out Britain’s delivery capacity. We have world-class engineers but an outdated system that can’t deliver at scale or speed.

“Too many projects are announced without funding, plans change with every spending review, and delivery ends up buried in bureaucracy. It’s not a lack of ambition – it’s a lack of continuity.

“We need a full review of how Government commissions and manages major projects.

“With long-term pipelines, stable investment and a genuine partnership with industry, we can rebuild the UK’s ability to deliver world-class infrastructure.”

Experts are calling for “pressing reform to stabilise supply and rebuild confidence”, including:

• Publishing a costed, long-term infrastructure pipeline to give businesses the certainty to invest

• Extending full expensing to leased and hired plant, enabling SMEs to reinvest in modern, efficient machinery

• Backing modular and off-site construction, boosting efficiency and resilience across supply chains

The report states that, despite the Government’s “optimistic bulletins”, such as a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), Industrial Strategy and National Infrastructure Strategy, “the Infrastructure Pipeline is incomplete, creating appreciable uncertainty”.

It adds: “Fewer than half of the listed initiatives have capital prices assigned, whereas virtually two-thirds of the 2025/26 funds allotted goes to initiatives already in operation or below building.

“Further out, uncertainty grows, with the share of the capital cost of projects with committed funding falling to 33% by 2030/31.”