Smaller infrastructure projects vital to economy

Balfour Beatty has published a report highlighting the importance of small and medium scale infrastructure schemes on the wider UK economy.

The paper  ‘Small scale, big impact: infrastructure and economic regeneration’ looks at how small-scale projects that can be implemented quickly can play a key role in boosting the UK’s economic growth in the short to medium term.

The report states: ‘The Government could take advantage of the current ultra-low government borrowing costs to finance spending on infrastructure, such as roads, railways, schools and hospitals. We believe that this should be spent on the kind of local infrastructure spending that would result in economic activity nationwide, ideally on ‘shovel ready’ projects that can demonstrate they will deliver homes and jobs over the next four or five years.’

These projects would give value for money to taxpayers by tackling problems such as traffic congestion by spending on roads and rail or improving energy and communications infrastructure for businesses.

The report suggests these smaller to medium sized projects will give the construction industry a solid enough platform to plan ahead in terms of training the next generation of construction experts who will required on larger-scale, long term projects such as HS2 and Heathrow.

The paper makes key recommendations that include the need for a solid project pipeline and also examining alternative economic modelling, which will help support the prospect of further infrastructure investment more broadly across the country.

Further, there should also be an integrated strategy into dealing with the skill shortage.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, said: “Whilst major infrastructure investment will be vital to the strength of the UK over the mid-term, we believe there is also a way for the government’s industrial strategy to drive rapid economic stimulus, with considerable geographic precision.

“As of today a number of road, rail, public realm, flood defence and construction projects exist which meet the Chancellor’s tests, in many cases have been approved, but are stalled by lack of funding. Taking advantage of current low borrowing costs to select and implement those with potential to bring maximum impact on a localised basis would quickly disperse uncertainty and set the country on the path to an economic growth that works for everyone.”

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