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10-year transport plan faces failure
00:00 18 Jul 2001
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by Carol Millett
The government's 10-year transport plan is in danger of failing, just one year after its inception, the Confederation of British Industry warned this week.
The warning comes in the CBI's report, Transport 2010: On Track or Off-Target?, published this week.
The report charts the progress of the government's 10-year plan, one year since its launch. Announcing the plan in July 2000, deputy prime minister John Prescott pledged £124bn of public money and £56bn of private finance over 10 years to radically improve and integrate the nation's transport infrastructure.
But just one year on, says the report, very little of the essential groundwork has been done.
The report states: "There is general acknowledgement that things are likely to get worse before they get better, as projects will take time to come on stream, often with some disruption to users. But our overall assessment is that matters risk becoming even worse than originally expected.
"While progress has been made to put the right structure in place for delivery in some areas, without similar progress elsewhere, the plan will be hamstrung before it even gets going."
The CBI is particularly concerned about the ability of the rail industry to meet the plan's targets. The report calls for more effective leadership for the industry.
The CBI praises the way progress has been made by the Highways Agency in meeting the demands of the plan.
But it warns this progress could be hampered if the government fails to act upon the recommendations made by the multi-modal studies set up under the plan to identify problem areas in the nation's transport network.
The report also calls for the government to provide clear commitment to public private partnerships in delivering major transport projects. It warns that the £56bn of private investment earmarked in the 10-year plan "will only be forthcoming if the right framework is in place to gain the confidence of potential investors". To this end the report calls for:
l A more realistic level of risk for the private sector.
l Greater risk taking by the public sector at project development stage.
l A greater role for the public sector in providing or underwriting capital for large scale projects.
l The reduction of the length and cost of local authority tendering processes.
The government's 10-year transport plan is in danger of failing, just one year after its inception, the Confederation of British Industry warned this week.
The warning comes in the CBI's report, Transport 2010: On Track or Off-Target?, published this week.
The report charts the progress of the government's 10-year plan, one year since its launch. Announcing the plan in July 2000, deputy prime minister John Prescott pledged £124bn of public money and £56bn of private finance over 10 years to radically improve and integrate the nation's transport infrastructure.
But just one year on, says the report, very little of the essential groundwork has been done.
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The report states: "There is general acknowledgement that things are likely to get worse before they get better, as projects will take time to come on stream, often with some disruption to users. But our overall assessment is that matters risk becoming even worse than originally expected.
"While progress has been made to put the right structure in place for delivery in some areas, without similar progress elsewhere, the plan will be hamstrung before it even gets going."
The CBI is particularly concerned about the ability of the rail industry to meet the plan's targets. The report calls for more effective leadership for the industry.
The CBI praises the way progress has been made by the Highways Agency in meeting the demands of the plan.
But it warns this progress could be hampered if the government fails to act upon the recommendations made by the multi-modal studies set up under the plan to identify problem areas in the nation's transport network.
The report also calls for the government to provide clear commitment to public private partnerships in delivering major transport projects. It warns that the £56bn of private investment earmarked in the 10-year plan "will only be forthcoming if the right framework is in place to gain the confidence of potential investors". To this end the report calls for:
l A more realistic level of risk for the private sector.
l Greater risk taking by the public sector at project development stage.
l A greater role for the public sector in providing or underwriting capital for large scale projects.
l The reduction of the length and cost of local authority tendering processes.
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