“Infrastructure projects set out in the National Infrastructure Plan are an opportunity for local towns and regions outside of London to develop their workforce and boost economic growth,” says Karen Millar, AECOM’s lead for local authorities and schools.
“We have all realised that the National Infrastructure Plan can play its part to make the industry more efficient,” says Millar. She adds, however, that another vital – and often hidden – aspect of the projects is that greater infrastructure investment can “drive economic regeneration in towns and regions through new jobs, the potential to upskill the local workforce and improve access, even if the primary project is not located in a local authority’s own community.”
While there is debate around the high cost of delivering major infrastructure schemes, more emphasis must be placed on the short and long term benefits projects will have, not only for UK PLC, but for local industry if Britain invests in its local workforce, Millar explains.
“A massive project like Crossrail generates opportunities and wealth way beyond London and the South East – 62% of the firms that have won contracts are located outside the capital,” she says.
Using local workers on projects such as HS2 equips them with the capability to deliver major infrastructure projects, and, once developed, local companies will be able to compete for other projects, both in Britain and abroad, Millar says.
Furthermore, although some communities will not directly benefit from construction work, large infrastructure projects can offer other opportunities to local areas.
“Local authorities have the opportunity to prime pump their economies through college and skills training, as well as through the numerous industries that supply the civil engineering and construction professions, irrespective of the direct investment in their localities. This is a potential big employment opportunity often missed,” Millar says.
Rather than thinking solely about the cost of major infrastructure projects, then, more must be done to recognise the long-term economic benefits of supporting home-grown businesses to develop the capabilities to deliver and support projects.
“The debate is currently about delivering these major infrastructure schemes, but the bigger cost to the economy will be if they are not built.”