Hospitals, schools and courts to get funding boost
The UK government has pledged more money for "crumbling" hospitals, schools and courts as part of a ten year infrastructure strategy. It will spend £9bn a year over the next decade to fix and replace buildings, but is yet to publish a list identifying major projects such as new roads and rail lines.The strategy is a cornerstone of the government's plans to put some life into Britain's sluggish economic growth, and promises £725bn of funding over a decade.The announcements on Thursday focussed on what the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones called a "soaring maintenance backlog" in health, education and justice buildings.
The strategy promised a more rounded plan for major schemes, but the publication of a new pipeline of hundreds of projects has been delayed until mid-July.Jones said the projects will be shown on a map of the country.He said the government would be doing "fewer things better instead of the same things badly", a sign that the list of more than 600 projects inherited from the Conservatives may be cut back.There was no formal green light at this stage for the long-promised northern high-speed rail link between Liverpool and Manchester.Plans for the link were first revealed in May 2024 after the cancellation of HS2's northern leg.The Treasury also indicated it was looking at new models for funding economic projects, including public private partnerships, and would report back by the autumn Budget.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "Crumbling public buildings are a sign of the decay that has seeped into our everyday lives because of a total failure to plan and invest."But Conservative shadow minister Richard Fuller said the previous government "had to deal with a series of economic disruptions including the impact of Covid, the unwinding of quantitative easing across all advanced economies, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia"."The global impact of these were to disrupt supply chains, increase inflation, and raise interest rates, " Fuller said.Despite these shocks, the last government increased public spending on capital projects, he said.
The £725bn will be spent on projects including rebuilding and maintaining schools, colleges, and hospitals, and prisons will be expanded.There will be an environmental planning reform package of £500m over three years to speed up how Natural England and the Environment Agency process planning applications.Almost £8bn will go on flood defences over the ten years, and £1bn has been earmarked for repairing bridges, flyovers and roads.There is £39bn for affordable homes, and £15.6bn for regional transport.Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the investments "will both boost productivity and support the decarbonisation of our economy".
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