Spotlight | Maximising benefits for the North

Denise Bower

The UK’s infrastructure industry might be forgiven for being downhearted as we come into the New Year.

Confidence in major project and programme delivery is at, what feels like, an all time low. The cancellation of Phase 2 of High Speed 2 (HS2) is a recent – and very public – manifestation of this.

The negative repercussions of the HS2 decision directly impact on businesses that develop, deliver and operate in the infrastructure sector and more indirectly on the wider business community.

It also affects the places in the North that would have been served by the new high speed rail link. As someone who was born, lives and works in the region, it feels very close to home.

The additional capacity and connectivity that would have been delivered by the whole of HS2 remain crucial. However, the ambition is that Network North, which includes building Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) in full, will deliver significant benefits. King Charles described it in his recent State Opening of Parliament speech as “improving the journeys that people make most often”.

I’m a strong advocate for NPR and the fast, direct link it would create between Leeds, Bradford and Manchester. Its construction would double the size of the available labour market, potentially raising productivity by 6%, the employment rate by 1.5% and gross value added in the North by about 8% over 10 years.

We need a deeper conversation about the role infrastructure plays in addressing major challenges

Building NPR and those projects singled out under Network North present real opportunities for the region to remove transport bottlenecks. However, a whole systems approach is needed to ensure these proposals truly deliver on our region’s aspirations. These investments must align with developing skills in the construction sector to ensure the loss of HS2 phase 2 does not mean we miss out on developing new talent.

Further changes to the infrastructure landscape are anticipated in the next 12 months, with a General Election due before January 2025. To take advantage of this, we need a deeper conversation about the role infrastructure plays in addressing major challenges. These include raising productivity and delivering economic growth, improving climate resilience, decarbonising and realising social benefits.

This is why I am optimistic. Because as we look to 2024 there are big opportunities, nationally and regionally in the North. These opportunities are not just in terms of transport projects. They go beyond existing plans for major investment in the water, energy, health, education and defence sectors.

There are also great opportunities in terms of seriously addressing and resolving questions about how the UK delivers major projects over the long-term. This debate is crucial and we must do better on this as an industry. We look forward to continuing to take part.

• Denise Bower is an ICE Fellow and Mott MacDonald group external engagement director

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