Infrastructure
SPENDING REVIEW: Live to fight another year
Local government has probably got just about enough from the chancellor to keep the show on the road, says Jonathan Werran. 'And possibly extend the road for the sake of kicking the familiar battered can that is social care funding down it...'
Sunak unveils a Spending Review for jobs, public services and infrastructure
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £4bn levelling up fund as part of a Spending Review which he claimed offered ‘huge investment’ in jobs, public services and infrastructure.
Spending Review: Infrastructure gets pride of place
The chancellor Rishi Sunak used the 2020 Spending Review to launch a new strategy for UK infrastructure.
Sunak to re-write Green Book to level up the North
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce plans to re-write the Green Book in the spending review this week, as part of the Government’s commitment to levelling up.
We need a renaissance in strategic planning
Joanna Killian says the need to deliver future-focused, robust infrastructure to support housing growth has never been greater - and a CCN-commissioned report offers proposals that 'taken together offer the critical missing piece of the puzzle'.
HOUSING: Will the planning shake-up help to level up?
Colin Brown asks if the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system will help or hinder housing need across the UK.
Sunak's cash pledge to head off revolt
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged extra cash in a bid to head off a revolt by a new northern group of Conservative MPs.
Three pathways to reducing regional disparities
Better defining ‘levelling up’ is a crucial step to achieving it, writes Professor Sir Tim Besley. A new discussion paper from the National Infrastructure Commission says a ‘balanced portfolio’ of interventions across three pathways is required.
Cities have 'gone backwards towards a centralising tendency'
Cities have ‘gone backwards’ towards a centralising tendency in response to COVID-19 and in relation to the proposals in the Planning White Paper, says Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.
Javid calls for 'fresh look at local government'
Former communities secretary Sajid Javid has called for a ‘fresh look at local government’.
Any further loosening of planning laws would be a disaster for towns and cities
Cllr Faisal Rana of Rochdale MBC argues that the government's planning White Paper will have a devastating impact on all Greater Manchester’s local communities.
Councils enlist MPs’ help over lorry parks
Local authorities have called on MPs to help lobby the Government over the creation of lorry parks to cope with no-deal Brexit border disruption.
We can’t wait any longer for major reform of local government
The current patchwork of local government needs to change if we are to have any hope of levelling up places across the country, argues Simon Jeffrey of Centre for Cities.
Beware the ‘construction cartels’
Laurence Pritchard says the pressure to keep infrastructure projects moving when competition for construction contracts is fiercer can make councils a target for practices banned by the Competition and Markets Authority
Winners of £900m for shovel-ready schemes announced
Ministers have announced the 300 schemes that will receive a share of the £900m Getting Building Fund and confirmed £360m for mayoral combined authorities to fund homes on brownfield land.
Major projects must be more responsive to local need, MPs argue
Hundreds of billions of pounds spent on new infrastructure projects could be ‘squandered’ without better co-ordination of local projects, MPs have warned.
Delivering homes and communities fit for the future
Lessons from the pandemic have given councils ‘a once in a generation’ opportunity to reform outdated planning principles, say Adam Cunnington and Julian Lockwood.
Using collective intelligence to boost cycling and walking in cities
In the latest in an essay series on how the wisdom of citizens could help councils manage after COVID, Peter Baeck and Sophie Reynolds consider how to make cities better for cycling and walking.
‘Give places the funding to rebuild’
Nigel Riglar says we need to aim for more than a simple recovery, as our problems are too pressing, and councils must respond collectively to make the case for greater funding.
Bright future for the West Midlands
Growth in the West Midlands has been badly impacted by COVID-19, says Deborah Cadman – but she believes the region also has ‘one of the greatest potentials to recharge and grow in 2021’.
