WIREDGOV

Treasury Minister Robert Jenrick today (May 31) embarked on a nationwide tour to give British businesses and local people the opportunity to have their say on the UK’s infrastructure needs.

On the tour, the Minister will ask leaders for their views on the kinds of infrastructure needed at a local level, and call for final responses to the Treasury’s consultation on financing infrastructure.

The tour will feed into the UK’s first-of-a-kind national infrastructure strategy – announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond at last year’s Budget – which will be published alongside this year’s Spending Review. The Strategy will provide a response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s National Infrastructure Assessment, and set out the government’s long-term plan for economic infrastructure.

The Minister’s first stop is Ørsted’s Gunfleet Sands Offshore Windfarm in Essex, to see how the UK’s offshore wind revolution is leading the way and creating jobs.

He will hear how the Government’s Industrial Strategy and Offshore Wind Sector Deal are supporting the sector, and how infrastructure investment could help build on this success.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick, said:

We are investing record amounts in our infrastructure.

But as we build on this impressive record, it is important to let people across the country have their say. Together we can ensure our infrastructure is fit for the future and serves people’s needs.

Every region in the UK has a key role to play in boosting productivity and prosperity, therefore I am looking forward to hearing from businesses of all sizes and local communities as part of this tour.

This follows the Minister’s UK-wide tour of business innovation in 2018, which lifted the lid on efforts to tackle the productivity gap and how infrastructure could help play its part.

Further Information

• the National Infrastructure Commission was established in January 2017 as an executive agency to help plan, prioritise and ensure efficient investment in infrastructure
• the government is consulting on how best to support private investment in infrastructure, so that as we leave the EU, good infrastructure projects continue to be able to access the finance they need. The consultation closes on 5 June
• the Infrastructure Finance Review will inform both the 2019 Spending Review and the upcoming National Infrastructure Strategy