Transport sector on the decline, says ICE

The transport sector has shown "little or no improvement" since the collapse of the government's 10-Year Transport Plan 2000, according to the Institution of Civil Engineers' (ICE) The State of the Nation 2005 report.

The document, which assesses the state of the UK's infrastructure assets, downgraded transport to a D+ compared with a grade C last year, making it the worst performer for the year.

Overall, infrastructure was graded a poor D+ score - the same as last year.

The ICE blamed transport's poor performance on the failure to commit financially to major projects such as Crossrail over the past year, which doesn't "bode well for the future of the nation".

Rail showed some improvement with fewer delays caused by track repair and maintenance and was awarded a C grade.

However, the ICE raised concerns over Network Rail's 800m underspend during 2004/05 and warned that cutting costs by simply reducing volume might lead to blockages further downstream.

Road infrastructure showed no improvement and was awarded a C+ for the second year running.

The ICE also voiced concern about the reclassifying of the road network between national and regional schemes and how it will affect spending on local roads.

However, the ICE said it was encouraged by increased spending plans of the Highways Agency, which are set at 1.9bn
in 2005/06 and will rise to 2.2bn for the following two years.

Communities for the future showed the greatest improvement, rising to a C- from a D last year, with the report citing the Streetpride project in Rotherham as a good example of a community becoming involved in managing its streets.

Energy showed no improvement on last year's grade D and the report said the renewable energy target of 10% by 2010 was "unlikely to be met" given the difficulty wind farms face in getting planning permission.

Waste also remained on a D grade with the ICE adding that "no connection between waste and energy" was being made.