EXCLUSIVE: The Chancellor is facing grim statistics before she presents her Budget on November 26.
Rachel Reeves has been told to take action to get projects moving (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves has been told that only a tiny proportion of critical Government projects are on track ahead of her Budget. The Chancellor is due to unveil her latest economic plans on November 26. A new Oxford Economics report, commissioned by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), has shown that only 14% of infrastructure schemes in the Government Major Projects Portfolio – worth £834billion in total – are rated green for delivery on time and budget. The document, titled “Half-Built Britain: Unlocking the Nation’s Infrastructure Growth Plans”, states that decades of under-investment have compounded the problem, with the public estate facing a £49billion maintenance backlog.
It adds that 70% of bridges and tunnels in the UK are more than 45-years-old. The CPA also 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”.
Steven Mulholland has urged the Chancellor to take key actions (Image: CPA)
There are 213 major projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with a total estimated whole-life cost of £996billion, including 68 major infrastructure projects.
Schemes included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio that are delayed include HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing.
Steven Mulholland, Chief Executive of the CPA, told 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 We have world-class engineers but an outdated system that can’t deliver at scale or speed.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 “urgent reform to stabilise delivery 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 “positive announcements”, such as a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), Industrial Strategy and National Infrastructure Strategy, “the Infrastructure Pipeline is incomplete, creating considerable uncertainty”.
It adds: “Fewer than half of the listed projects have capital costs assigned, while almost two-thirds of the 2025/26 budget allocated goes to projects already in operation or under construction.
“Further out, uncertainty grows, with the share of the capital cost of projects with committed funding falling to 33% by 2030/31.”
