How does the new UK Government's pre-election manifesto measure up against the National Infrastructure Commission's five-year priorities?

Following the general election, held on 4 July 2024, the UK now has its first Labour government since 2010.

Shortly before Rishi Sunak called the general election, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) published its annual review of government progress on infrastructure policy funding and delivery (the Review). The Review is also forward-looking and sets out what the NIC believes should be the government's key priorities over the next five years across various sectors.

We examined those priorities in our blogs on the Net Zero and transport sectors respectively. Here, we look at the new Government's manifesto – published prior to the election – and how it addressed those priorities, along with other connected policy commitments.

Net Zero

NIC Review 5 Year Priorities	Manifesto commitment
The Electricity System
Annual contracts for difference auctions to continue and remain fit for purpose to deliver at least 65% renewable generation	No commitment
Publish plans and policy to: encourage deployment of engineered greenhouse gas removal technologies deliver business models for long duration energy storage and a strategic energy reserve ensure that unabated gas generation generates less than 2% of electricity by 2035 support hydrogen-fired generation and gas generation with carbon capture and storage	Double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030 Invest in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure required long-term energy storage Establish Great British Energy to drive forward clean, home-grown energy production, and fund with £8.3 billion Introduce new Energy Independence Act to establish framework for energy and climate policies Maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations to guarantee security of supply Allocate £500 million to support the manufacturing of green hydrogen and £1 billion to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture
Establish both the National Energy System Operator as an impartial expert with responsibilities across the gas and electricity networks, and Regional Energy System Planners, to set local energy system development plans	No commitment
Heating and Energy Efficiency
Prioritise increased incentives for energy efficiency measures Prioritise increased incentives for the adoption of low carbon heat technologies for homes and businesses	Through grants and low interest loans the Warm Homes Plan will support investment in insulation, solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating to cut bills Collaboration with private sector to provide private finance to accelerate home upgrades and low carbon heating
Commit long term funding to low carbon heat for the public sector estate, social housing, and lower income households	No commitment
Plan for the ending of natural gas for heating and the repurposing of the gas network Rule out hydrogen for heating	No commitment - no requirement to replace boilers in homes
New Infrastructure Networks
Clear policies to: encourage industrial decarbonisation articulate the "vision" for carbon capture and storage and hydrogen distribution models, to accelerate the delivery of business models for such networks	National Wealth Fund will support the most energy intensive sectors to decarbonise Introduce new Energy Independence Act to establish framework for energy and climate policies

The manifesto did not make reference to the Review, but did address a number of the priorities raised, including notable commitments to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. Labour also made commitments to expanding nuclear power by extending the lifetime of existing plants.

Significantly, the manifesto vowed to make Britain "a clean energy superpower" and ruled out the issue of new oil and gas exploration licences in the North Sea.

Perhaps most notably, the manifesto included a pledge to establish a new publicly-owned company, Great British Energy, to be headquartered in Scotland. This will be funded with £8.3 billion over the next parliamentary period and with the objective of installing clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar and hydropower projects.

The manifesto also declared the intention to make the UK the green finance capital of the world, requiring UK-regulated financial institutions – including banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers – and FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement robust transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.

Transport

Devolution of powers and funding
NIC Review 5 Year Priorities	Labour Manifesto commitment
Mayoral combined authorities: provide combined mayoral authorities with financial support over the next two years and during that period work with them to devise sustainable and resilient funding models	Give mayors the power to create unified and integrated transport system New powers for local leaders to franchise local bus services, and removal of the ban on municipal ownership, so local communities in England can control routes and schedules
Cities: commit £22 billion of long-term capital funding for major transport projects in cities, prioritising funding for cities expected to have the greatest need for increased capacity, with financing mechanisms and sources of finance explored with involvement from UK Infrastructure Bank	No commitment
Faster progress in devolving powers and funding for local transport to local authorities Single multi-year financial settlements to be agreed with all mayoral combined authorities	Deepened devolution settlements to combined authorities to gain new powers, including over transport Governance arrangements for combined authorities will be reviewed, to unblock decision-making, and greater flexibility will be provided with integrated settlements for mayoral combined authorities that show exemplary management of public money
Devolved five-year transport budgets to be agreed with county councils and unitary authorities	No commitment
Five-year transport budget settlements to be put in place for Transport for London	No commitment
Integrated interurban transport strategy
Long-term strategy for road and rail networks performance and resilience 30-year pipeline of road improvements prioritising underperforming regions Long-term and comprehensive rail enhancement plan to address: rail capacity and connectivity difficulties in the North and Midlands completion of East West Rail targeted nationwide network improvements	Great British Railways will deliver a unified system, focusing on reliable, affordable, high-quality and efficient services An additional 1 million potholes to be fixed across England in each parliamentary year, but no specific commitment to a 30 year programme 10-year infrastructure strategy, including improving rail connectivity across the north of England
EV charge points: speed up deployment of public EV charge points to meet targets and service increased numbers of EVs	Accelerate the roll-out of charge points Standardise information supplied on battery condition to support buyers of second-hand electric cars
Decarbonisation
by 2025, to set up a monitoring and review scheme for transport decarbonisation plans	No commitment
support industry decarbonisation of road freight by 2050	Grow the use of rail freight, including a duty on mayors to promote and grow the use of rail freight

The Labour manifesto did not explicitly mention the Review but did pick up on a number of the priorities highlighted by the NIC. It committed to the development of a long-term strategy for transport, to ensure transport infrastructure can be delivered efficiently and on time and proposed to deepen and widen transport devolution arrangements.

Improvement to railway networks is a key theme of the manifesto's infrastructure commitments, including bringing the railways in England back into public ownership and expanding the railway network across the north of England. There is, however, no explicit mention of the East West Rail, as highlighted by the Review.

A pledge to fix an additional 1 million potholes in England per year is also included, the funding of which will come from deferring the A27 bypass. However, the manifesto's commitment in respect of roads did not reach the extent of the 30-year pipeline as proposed by the Review.

The manifesto committed to deepen devolution deals for existing combined authorities and extend devolution to more areas.

It also included the proposed creation of a new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), which Labour had announced prior to the manifesto's publication. Nista would merge the NIC and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority into a new body to set strategic infrastructure priorities and oversee the design, scope, and delivery of projects.

Comment

The Labour manifesto, while not covering all of the areas highlighted by the Review, did pick up on many of the key messages of the Review. It did contain some headline policies, particularly around the establishment of Great British Energy, and this is coupled with an express acknowledgement that the pace of change to Net Zero must be picked up. It will therefore be interesting to see how this new UK Government progresses these policies and what can be achieved in the coming years.