The chancellor has put infrastructure at the very centre of her growth plan – so where is the sense of excitement?

Construction leaders have been quick to welcome Rachel Reeves’ speech this week setting out how infrastructure is central to her plans to “kick-start economic growth”. The chancellor even gave a name check to a few companies in the sector who were invited to the event held in Oxford, signalling that she has been in talks with the likes of Mace, Skanska and Arup over how to speed up infrastructure delivery.

Katy Dowding, Skanska UK president and CEO, who had been in the audience, said afterwards: “There was definitely a sense of optimism in the room, and my message to government is clear: be bold, be brave and let’s build.”

Reactions elsewhere have been similar, though we are not seeing the level of excitement that you might expect when a chancellor pledges to “go further and faster” in order to build our way to prosperity.

Perhaps it is a style thing. Reeves doesn’t really do soaring rhetoric in the way that Boris Johnson did. More likely, though, it is down to past experience: successive governments have promised major infrastructure and failed to deliver.

Indeed, none of the three big-ticket items touted by the chancellor – Heathrow’s third runway, the Lower Thames Crossing and East-West Rail – are new ideas. They have all been floated before and have come to nothing.

There are  reasons to be hopeful that this week does mark a bit of a turning point after the gloom that descended in the months following the autumn’s tax-raising Budget

So, what is different this time around? Why should businesses have any more confidence that this Labour government’s ambitions to build will ever be realised, particularly when many of the projects have such long time horizons?

Well, according to industry bosses to whom I have spoken, there are a few reasons to be hopeful that this week does mark a bit of a turning point after the gloom that descended in the months following the autumn’s tax-raising Budget.

First, this Labour government is showing that it is serious about reforming the planning system – “sorting out the plumbing” is one industry metaphor I have heard. That is not to minimise the effort of the undertaking or how damaging planning delays have been to development in the UK and the knock-on impact that has on our ability to attract investment.

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This determination to, for example, crack down on the use of judicial reviews to block development is regarded by industry as unequivocally “a good thing” – and the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill cannot come soon enough.

Let’s face it, despite all the industry lobbying, it proved impossible to make progress on this front under the Conservative government. So, yes, Labour’s language, tone and clear path to reform all mark a welcome shift.

Second, there is a lot to like in the government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy working paper published this week, particularly the broad definition to include the country’s social, economic and housing infrastructure. This plays well with construction firms that have expertise in building hospitals, schools, colleges and prisons.

As a slight aside, the news earlier this month of the extended timeframe of the New Hospital Programme is seen as positive. Many involved thought the original scope was completely unrealistic.

Too often good policy intentions have been swallowed up by departmental complexity within the Treasury. Now there is an identifiable person accountable for the strategy’s success

Also highlighted in the working paper is the role of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, otherwise known as NISTA. This joint unit, which will oversee the infrastructure strategy, is being run out of the Treasury and the Cabinet Office, but crucially one person is taking overall responsibility: Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury.

Too often good policy intentions have been swallowed up by departmental complexity within the Treasury. Now there is an identifiable person accountable for the strategy’s success.

More generally, onlookers can see that this government, despite its shaky start, is now making a huge effort to create a positive narrative that will boost business confidence and attract private sector investment. Construction has called for a long-term plan so, now that ministers are outlining what that looks like, we should see that as progress.

That said, there will be many who also want to see details in the forthcoming infrastructure pipeline of projects on a smaller scale that can get spades in the ground quickly. Even with that, one boss told me he does not expect to see much of a recovery until mid to late 2026.

Reeves can make sure that the government gets out of the way, but the private sector still has to come up with the money and actually deliver [a third runway at Heathrow]

Critics have inevitably pointed out that the chancellor has backed projects that could take decades to deliver. Take Heathrow, where Reeves has insisted a third runway could be built out and operating in 10 years: the truth is that it is not down to her.

She can make sure that the government gets out of the way, but – environmental opposition aside – the private sector still has to come up with the money and actually deliver. Ten years seems on the very optimistic side.

Long timelines for big infrastructure projects are no reason to put off a decision of course, but we should be realistic about timeframes and – just as importantly – about project viability. Along with planning, this is the big issue to tackle.

But actually coming up with solutions to fund developments of all shapes and sizes has only been addressed in rather vague terms by the government so far. This is where ministers will have to focus their minds next.

Our chancellor may not be the most exciting of orators, but let’s give her some credit for now. She is looking ahead – and putting infrastructure at the heart of this country’s future.

Chloë McCulloch is the editor of Building