Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Institution of Civil Engineers entitled Paying for Britain’s Infrastructure System, published on 25 February 2025.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy communicating to the public its approach to housing, economic and social infrastructure, alongside a pipeline to give industry a clear sense of the government’s long-term priorities.
The government has been engaging openly with industry – including the Institution of Civil Engineers – as it develops this Strategy to ensure that it is credible and deliverable.
As part of this engagement, in January the government published a working paper setting out the government’s plans for the Strategy and some key areas under consideration.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to (a) engage and (b) communicate with the public about major infrastructure projects.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 year infrastructure strategy communicating to the public its approach to housing, economic and social infrastructure, alongside a pipeline to give industry a clear sense of the government’s long-term priorities.
The government is seeking to engage collaboratively with the public, including the construction sector, its supply chain, major investors and other key industry stakeholders as it develops the Strategy to understand how it can support investment in and the delivery of shared objectives for infrastructure.
As part of this engagement, in January the government published a working paper setting out the government’s plans for the Strategy and some key areas under consideration.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential economic (a) costs and (b) benefits of an expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
According to the most recent study from Frontier Economics, a third runway could increase potential GDP by 0.43% in by 2050 and could create over 100,000 jobs. Over half – 60% - of that GDP boost would go to areas outside London and South-East.
The exact cost of the runway is a matter for Heathrow, the Civil Aviation Authority and the airport’s customer airlines, and the Government has been clear that the scheme will be privately financed without Government support.
Our clear expectation is that any associated surface transport costs will be financed from private funding.