Growth and Infrastructure Bill (House of Commons Library Research Paper)

Posted on: 29 October 2012
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The Growth and Infrastructure Bill [Bill 75 of 2012-13] was introduced to the House of Commons on 18 October 2012. It seeks to reduce delays in the planning system through various means, including referring certain projects to the Secretary of State to be determined within a 12 month timetable, rather than by local planning authorities. It has provisions relating to telecommunication equipment and energy infrastructure and gas transport. To promote development, the Bill would allow for planning obligations (section 106 agreements) relating to affordable housing to be renegotiated to make a development economically viable again. To promote economic growth, it makes provision for a planned revaluation of business rates in England to be postponed and to create a new employment status of employee owner. This research paper has been prepared to inform the Second Reading debate on the Bill, on 30 October 2012.

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Encouraging innovation in infrastructure

Posted on: 25 October 2012
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Forum for the Future has launched a set of tools to drive innovation in infrastructure and long term sustainable investment. The toolkit is the result of a year-long project to understand what inhibits innovation in infrastructure projects in order to support sustainable city operation. It has been developed and produced in collaboration with six key organisations that have a significant role in delivering the UK’s infrastructure. The toolkit is made up of four elements:

SpacedIn: A guide on getting the most out of your workspace. Can be used to demonstrate to facilities departments, budget holders and senior executives that improving the design of the working environment can enable innovation.

How to engage remote staff: A guide offering practical tips for engaging the large number of remote workers in the infrastructure sector.

Innovation tools: A set of easy-to-use tools based around key elements of the innovation process, from initiating a project to the dissemination of learning outcomes, to promote creative thinking in any organisation.

The little book of innovation: An outline of the key findings of the toolkit project and why these outputs are useful for any organisation in the infrastructure sector and beyond.

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Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST)

Posted on: 23 October 2012
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The Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST seeks to help participating countries improve the value for money spent on the construction of public infrastructure. This goal is to achieve the delivery of good quality infrastructure projects at lower cost, with increased predictability of outcomes. The Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) has been introduced following a three-year pilot project. The UK was one of the pilot countries, where projects reviewed by CoST have been set out as examples of best practice, and give a strong basis for projections on potential savings. The UK Government has also committed to implementing CoST as part of its programme to reduce infrastructure costs by £2.5bn per annum. The organisations behind the initiative include the World Bank; the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC); the ONE Campaign and the Institution of Civil Engineers. They calling on international governments, as well as the global construction industry, to commit to incorporating CoST into all public construction projects to create a more transparent and accountable sector, leading to better infrastructure. The initiative has been adopted by eight participating countries around the world, including Ethiopia, Malawi, Philippines, Tanzania, Vietnam, Zambia, as well as the UK.

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Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Posted on: 19 October 2012
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Provisions included in this Bill relate to the provision or use of infrastructure, the carrying-out of development, and the compulsory acquisition of land. Proposed provisions include speeding up the planning system for large-scale business and commercial projects, introducing the recommendations of the Penfold Review, removing ‘overlapping development consent regimes’, and reducing the number of Government agencies required to ‘sign off’ planning permissions.

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Living with our buildings and infrastructure: adapting for the future. Birmingham, 18-19 September 2012

Posted on: 16 October 2012
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The Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate – Coordination Network (ARCC CN) brings together researchers and stakeholders involved in climate change adaptation in the built environment and infrastructure sectors. 18 EPSRC-funded projects provide the focus, with research looking at adaptation and resilience in buildings, transport networks, water resources and energy systems. Working through coordinated activities and with the research and end-user communities, the ARCC CN provides evidence to enable the design of more resilient urban systems. This event was held to: showcase scientific advances from the ARCC CN projects and related research and highlight implications for end-users; place ARCC CN outputs in the context of wider policy and practice requirements; allow extensive networking opportunities for researchers and end-users. Presentations are available online, together with a brochure which summarises research findings and outputs to date from projects within the ARCC CN and highlights the implications for end users.

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Bold thinking: a model to fund our future roads

Posted on: 8 October 2012
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A new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) argues that the UK needs a gear change in investment, performance and efficiency if it is to develop a road network fit for the 21^st century.

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UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium

Posted on: 5 October 2012
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The UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium aims to inform the analysis, planning and design of national infrastructure, through the development and demonstration of new decision support tools, and working with partners in government and industry. The research deals at a national scale with: energy, transport, water, waste, and information and communication technologies (ICT) systems.

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Map for England

Posted on: 5 October 2012
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The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), in conjunction with software specialists Idox, have launched a pilot website for the Map for England which will be live until 31 December 2012. The RTPI commissioned a study as part of their Map for England campaign which showed that there are many benefits to joining up different sources of policy information, which would help to coordinate infrastructure planning and help to boost growth, whilst being more transparent and saving time and money to many organisations and local communities. The Map for England aims to help organisations visualise the impact of some of the existing policies and programmes. The RTPI would welcome feedback on this resource.

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State of the World Report 2012: Sustainable infrastructure

Posted on: 4 October 2012
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This report clarifies current international thinking on sustainability, assesses the current rating systems and sets out clear decision paths for critical investment in infrastructure.

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FIDIC World Consulting Engineering Conference. Seoul, 9-12 September 2012

Posted on: 4 October 2012
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This conference, with its theme “Beyond Green – A New Paradigm”, aimed to demonstrate that consulting engineers have played a major and important role in society by ensuring the development and implementation of sustainable solutions to global challenges that go well beyond the conventional “green” approach. The event aimed to help identify how the consulting engineering industry can continue to develop ways of addressing the future issues that will face us all. Presentations are available online.

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