This week’s King’s Speech landed at a moment when the economic outlook is being shaped as much by geopolitics as domestic policy. Whatever the wider political backdrop, the construction elements of this programme look like they would command broad support across the industry says RLB Chief Executive UK & Europe, Andrew Reynolds, talking to Building magazine.
Predictability for infrastructure
Economic growth is tied to national infrastructure and the Government has announced legislation to encourage airport expansion, roads (including the financing of Lower Thames Crossing) and Northern Powerhouse Rail. Legislating to speed up large infrastructure projects is to be welcomed and will help our industry have confidence in pipelines alongside the financial commitments.
Greater predictability in planning, financing and delivery is critical to turning announced ambition into investable programmes. Greater certainty allows contractors and consultants to plan workloads, invest in skills and technology, and maintain resilient supply chains.
Payments – a necessary reset
A tougher stance on late payment should be welcomed as the Government announced a bill to tackle late payments. The industry has lived for too long with practices that push risk and working capital stress down the supply chain, weakening resilience precisely when we need capacity, skills and investment.
Assuming it will be included, the proposed abolishment of retentions is the most significant signal for our industry. Removing them will address genuine unfairness and reduce losses to insolvency or non-payment but, it should also force a practical rethink about how quality risk is managed.
Power – at pace for critical infrastructure
The pace of build out of critical infrastructure is now a national issue, and clean energy and electricity connections sit at the heart of it. The proposed Energy Independence Bill is therefore welcomed. The delivery of energy intensive assets, including data centres, will be hampered if we cannot deliver network capacity faster, with fewer delays in the consent and access process.
We have also seen the same focus on national resilience reflected in planned legislation to enable public ownership of British Steel, a timely reminder that enabling critical infrastructure depends on strategic inputs as well as the regulatory framework.
The need for power now comes down to implementation. The Government has recognised that the scale of network build out required is significant and that existing processes need to change to deliver it. The industry’s job now is to turn that direction into delivery.
Legislation is necessary, but not sufficient
There is no doubt that new legislation creates burden: contracts, processes, reporting and compliance will all need to adapt. But that burden is immaterial if the changes help shift behaviours towards better outcomes – fairer contract practices, more predictable pipelines, and faster delivery of critical infrastructure. This programme of legislation does have the potential to remove friction for the industry, but legislation alone can’t deliver projects – people do. The prize comes from how clients and suppliers act once the rules change.
This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in Building.
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