黑洞社区

Sir John Armitt has said the consequence of cutting HS2 will be to turn the country鈥檚 flagship infrastructure scheme into little more than a 鈥渟huttle鈥� between west London and Birmingham.

Speaking at 黑洞社区鈥檚 黑洞社区 the Future Commission conference in London this afternoon, the chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) warned politicians of interfering too much and ripping up plans halfway through jobs.

He said: 鈥淲hile politics will never be removed from infrastructure, and ministers will understandably want to shape the direction of major programmes, we need to face up to the implications of chopping and changing policy.

鈥淐urtailing the High Speed 2 route so it becomes a shuttle between Acton and Birmingham makes no economic sense.

鈥淵es, costs have to be controlled in a serious and methodical manner. But lopping off legs will only reduce the capacity and connectivity benefits the full project will bring to some of this country鈥檚 major city regions.

鈥淎nd furthermore, a retreat on the scope would send an incredibly negative message around the world about the UK鈥檚 approach to major infrastructure projects.鈥�

He said ministers should talk to industry more, rather than chop and change all the time.

He added: 鈥淗S2 may be foremost on minds at the moment, but others here may recall the U-turn on Zero Carbon Homes, when in 2007 the then government announced that all new homes would have to be zero carbon by 2016.

鈥淚ndustry warned that would be very difficult; but government insisted, so industry put its shoulder to the wheel. Then in 2015, government pulled the plug. Ministers should listen to industry鈥檚 evidence-based views and concerns.鈥�

And Armitt told the event that politicians had to be more consistent with their decisions 鈥� and stick to them.

鈥淯ltimately, politicians are there to take the tough decisions. But if the private sector is to play its part in delivering major public objectives 鈥� whether that is net zero, or levelling up, or even meeting the housebuilding target 鈥� it needs a stable policy and regulatory environment.

鈥淭hat is best achieved through a long-term plan that is forged collaboratively between public and private sectors, including regulators 鈥� and then, crucially, sticking to it. This is the missing link between high level plans and targets, and getting stuff done on the ground.鈥�

The NIC is due to present its next National Infrastructure Assessment on 18 October.

The assessment is published every five years and sets out costed recommendations to government on priorities for the next 20 to 30 years.

Meanwhile, five regional mayors, including London mayor Sadiq Khan, Greater Manchester鈥檚 Andy Burnham and West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin, have asked to meet with prime minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the plans to cut HS2.

In a joint statement, they said: 鈥淲e release this statement to express dismay on behalf of our regions at the news that the government is considering scrapping HS2 or curtailing it to such a degree that it will fail to produce any meaningful economic benefit. Over recent days we have been inundated by concern from businesses across our regions about the economic damage that will result from any decision not to proceed with HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail in full.鈥�

Asked whether he thought HS2 would be cut, one chief executive of a major contractor told 黑洞社区: 鈥淚 know what they should do. Get everyone in a ****ing room and work out how to build it more cheaply.鈥�