Ministers set out plans to spend £725bn on UK infrastructure over 10 years
Ministers have pledged to spend £9bn a year on fixing crumbling schools, hospitals, courts and prisons over the next decade as part of the government's infrastructure strategy.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, set out plans on Thursday to spend a minimum of £725bn over 10 years to boost UK-wide infrastructure and achieve a 'national renewal'.
Jones announced that £6bn a year would go to repairing hospitals in England, £3bn to fixing and upgrading schools and colleges in England and £600m to courts and prisons in England and Wales.
The money will fund building improvements including removing crumbling reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in hospitals and strengthening safety and security in prisons.
Jones told MPs: 'Done properly it will result in tangible improvements to the fabric of our country, our local roads and high streets renewed so communities are even better places to live.'
The strategy also includes £1bn to fix roads, bridges and flyovers across the UK and £590m to start work on the Lower Thames Crossing project. Some £16bn will go towards building 500,000 new homes through a new publicly owned National Housing Bank.
Richard Fuller, the Conservative shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, urged ministers to set out which major projects are being abandoned and explain why.
Business and industry groups, who have long argued the need for a long-term vision to provide certainty and encourage investment, broadly welcomed the strategy – although the government portal of actual projects will not now be launched online for another month. This project 'pipeline' will be updated every six months.
Alex Vaughan, the CEO of construction and engineering firm Costain, said the launch was 'a crucial step towards ending the short-termism that has held our sector back'.
The Railway Industry Association chief executive, Darren Caplan, said a 10-year strategy and the commitment to publish a pipeline in July was extremely welcome, adding: 'We look forward to seeing the full details of the pipeline, which will need to give businesses sufficient clarity to plan ahead.'
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: 'A government operating within the spending rules it has set for itself demonstrates real commitment – one that can unlock private investment and finance, which will take confidence from this stability.'
John Dickie, chief executive at BusinessLDN, said it showed welcome government recognition 'that Britain needs a clear, committed, long-term pipeline of future public investment to give the private sector the confidence to invest'.
Sam Gould, director of policy at the Institution of Civil Engineer, said it was 'a significant moment' with lots of positives, but added: 'The sector will need more information on private finance models, and on how [it] will meet the demands of our changing climate.'
The strategy does not cover so-called megaprojects, which cost more than £10bn and take more than 10 years to deliver. These include the HS2 railway, Sizewell C nuclear plant and the Dreadnought submarine programme.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
David Lammy arrives in Geneva to meet Iran's foreign minister for peace push
David Lammy has arrived in Geneva for talks with the Iranian foreign minister and European allies as the UK presses for a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Iran conflict. The Foreign Secretary is meeting Abbas Araghchi on Friday alongside his counterparts from France, Germany and the EU as he seeks to negotiate a settlement before US President Donald Trump decides on whether to take military action against Tehran. In a statement read by his press secretary on Thursday, Mr Trump said there was still 'a substantial chance of negotiations' and said he would make a decision on deploying US forces 'within the next two weeks'. Mr Trump had previously said he 'may' join Israeli strikes against Iran and its nuclear programme, but added: 'I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Friday's meeting with the so-called E3 countries follows Mr Lammy's visit to Washington, where he met US secretary of state Marco Rubio in the White House on Thursday evening to discuss 'how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict'. The Foreign Secretary said: 'The situation in the Middle East remains perilous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon.' Adding that a 'window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution', Mr Lammy said: 'Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no-one.' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said on Friday morning the White House had provided a 'very clear timescale now' for the UK and its allies as they push for de-escalation in the Middle East. She also told Times Radio: 'There is this two-week window where the US is offering diplomatic talks. And my counterpart, David Lammy, is over in Geneva today with leading European figures meeting with the Iranian foreign minister. 'We appreciate the seriousness of the situation, but we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve de-escalation and a diplomatic solution. And all of our efforts continue towards that end.' Israeli air strikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early on Friday, Iranian media reported. Since the conflict erupted last week, at least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Meanwhile, at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. It remains unclear whether the UK would join any military action, although there has been speculation that US involvement could require using the British-controlled base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands. The B-2 stealth bombers based there are capable of carrying specialised 'bunker buster' bombs which could be used against Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordo. Attorney General Lord Hermer is reported to have raised legal concerns about any British involvement in the conflict beyond defending its allies, which could limit the extent of any support for the US if Mr Trump decides to act militarily. Meanwhile, two Labour backbenchers pushed for a 'fresh, tough approach' to Tehran. Jon Pearce and Mike Tapp, chairman and vice-chairman respectively of Labour Friends of Israel, said the UK urgently needed 'a multifaceted diplomatic, economic and national security plan to guard against the Iranian threat and force the regime to change course'. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the pair called for tighter sanctions on Iran, the proscription of the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps and a 'comprehensive diplomatic solution' that 'eliminates once and for all' Iran's nuclear threat.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Personal insolvencies 5% higher in May than same month of 2024, figures show
The number of people going financially insolvent across England and Wales in May was 5% higher than the same month in 2024, according to Insolvency Service figures. In May 2025, 10,014 people entered insolvency, including bankruptcies, debt relief orders (DROs) and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), a total which was broadly unchanged compared with 10,060 insolvencies in April 2025. The Insolvency Service said DRO numbers have remained similar to the record high levels seen over the past 12 months, with 3,783 cases recorded in May. The report said: 'DRO numbers have been at record high monthly numbers since the abolition of the upfront £90 fee in April 2024, with the 45,802 DROs in the past 12 months being nearly twice as high as the long-term annual average.' In June 2024, DRO eligibility was expanded. The debt threshold was increased from £30,000 to £50,000 and the allowable value of an exempt motor vehicle was increased from £2,000 to £4,000. IVA numbers this year so far have remained in line with monthly averages seen last year. The report added: 'The 5,583 IVAs registered in May 2025 was similar to April 2025 and 13% higher than in May 2024.' With 648 cases recorded, bankruptcy numbers were 4% higher than in May 2024, but remained at less than half of pre-2020 levels. In addition to the formal insolvencies, there were 7,805 'breathing space' registrations recorded under the Debt Respite Scheme in May 2025 – 2% higher than in May 2024. Of the breathing space registrations, 7,684 were standard breathing space registrations and 121 were mental health breathing space registrations. The scheme gives people with problem debt a period of protection from their creditors, enabling them to access professional debt advice, without the stress caused by spiralling debt and looming enforcement action. A standard breathing space gives people with problem debt legal protections from creditor action for up to 60 days. A mental health crisis breathing space is available to those receiving mental health crisis treatment. It lasts as long as the person's mental health crisis treatment, plus 30 days. Households faced various bill increases in April, putting an additional strain on some people's finances. The number of company insolvencies in England and Wales was 2,238 in May 2025 – a 15% jump compared with May 2024. Monthly company insolvency numbers in the first five months of 2025 were slightly higher than in 2024 and at a similar level to 2023, which saw a 30-year high annual number of insolvencies, the Insolvency Service said. The company insolvency rate remains much lower than the peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies seen during the 2008-09 financial downturn, the report said, adding: 'This is because the number of companies on the effective register has more than doubled over this period.'
The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Sorry, Keir Starmer pretending to be Nigel Farage is not what I ordered': the Stephen Collins cartoon
'Sorry, Keir Starmer pretending to be Nigel Farage is not what I ordered': the Stephen Collins cartoon
