The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 176

Guest: Sir John Armitt, chairman of the Public Private Partnership Commission

An Office for Budget Responsibility for Infrastructure

In this episode discuss how the new Burnham administration can use host public debate to accelerate its plans for infrastructure investment and actually start to turn ambition into reality.

My guest is Sir John Armitt, arguably one of the most prominent, knowledgeable and influential figures when it comes to setting and delivering UK infrastructure policy. 

As former longstanding chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, a past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, former boss of Network Rail and contractor Costain, and the leader of high-profile infrastructure projects such as the 2012 Olympics, Medway Crossing and the Channel Tunnel High Speed Rail Link, he really needs no further introduction.

Sir John is now chair of the new Public Private Partnership Commission which aims to overhaul how the UK selects, funds, delivers, and operates infrastructure. In a recent Financial Times editorial, John and the Commission advocates for a new Office of Budget Responsibility for Infrastructure, designed to, as he puts it, shield major investments from political interference and move decisions away from the so-called "Treasury brain." 

Lots to unpack there. 

Infrastructure investment is, as we continue to hear, critical to the government’s plans to devolve power, accelerate growth and drive living standards up across the whole of the UK. 

But despite huge amounts of ambition, delivery remains challenging. Decades of short-term policy pivots and inflated project delivery costs have hampered our ability to turn great visions into reality. 

This has to change. With a £725billion+ infrastructure investment strategy slated over the next decade, split evenly between the taxpayer and private markets, delivering long-term growth hinges on restoring investor confidence and operational stability. 

So let’s hear how political leaders like Andy Burnham can better navigate our 5-year electoral cycles and actually unlock the vast amounts of private capital ready and willing to rebuild the nation's delivery capability. 

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