UK infrastructure costs can be cut by £25bn, claims James Stewart

The cost of delivering infrastructure in the UK could be cut by £25bn ’without blinking’ according to the head of Infrastructure UK.

In an exclusive video interview for Infrastructure Now, James Stewart said that civil engineering costs could be cut by at least 10%.

Stewart said that with £400-500bn being spent over ten years up to £25bn could be saved if costs were cut by a tenth. He said: “We should get much more in the future for the same amount of money.”

Infrastructure UK was looking to identify around ten ways of reducing costs, according to Stewart.

He said a National Infrastructure Plan would also look at the planning of infrastructure and how private sector investment could be stimulated.

Stewart warned that contractors would be expected to come up with innovative ways of cutting costs. He said: “We are looking for private sector to be innovative and engaged in how savings can be created from PFI contracts.”

“We’re in a time when local authority budgets are getting cut and if you are the private sector partner of an council, then you can’t expect your PFI contract to be immune from a review of overall budgets.”

Stewart said decisions on big infrastructure projects would be announced at or close to the Comprehensive Spending Review.
He said: “Decisions will emerge in the spending review. It has been a catalyst for a different attitude. Costs and specs are really being scrutinised.”

To see the video interview and more details on how the government intends to cut costs visit Infrastructure Now