Civils contractors today welcomed the UK Labour Party’s announcement that should it form the next Government it
plans to merge the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority into a new body
to streamline the delivery of capital projects.
The Labour Party has said that a combined body – to be entitled ‘National Infrastructure & Service Transformation
Authority’ (NISTA) – will be given new powers and an updated mandate to drive more effective delivery infrastructure
across the country. It will be overseen by a board that includes external experts and be jointly accountable to the
Treasury and the Cabinet Office.
Commenting, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) Alasdair Reisner said: “This
announcement may well have flown under the radar yesterday due to the Prime Minister naming the date of the
General Election. But for industry it really matters.
“CECA has campaigned for many years to ensure that infrastructure delivery is no longer subject to party-political
considerations, which often lead to short-termism and drift on projects that are essential to our economic wellbeing
as a country.
“We contributed to the capital projects review that generated this recommendation, and therefore welcome its
proposal to put infrastructure policy at the heart of Government thinking. We hope that all parties will make similar
commitments during the General Election campaign.”
