Funding for Major Infrastructure Projects

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Westminster Hall

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered funding for major infrastructure projects.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Sharma. Any Government should have a long-term strategic vision for the country beyond short-term election cycles. Infrastructure planning must be at the heart of any serious Government. However, such a long-term coherent infrastructure strategy is lacking and the Government are failing to capitalise on the long-term benefits of upgrading our infrastructure. We need an infrastructure strategy now to face the challenges of the future.

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On resuming—

[Wera Hobhouse]

Thank you, Mr Sharma—again, it is a pleasure to see you in the Chair. I think I had just got beyond my first sentence, so I will repeat what I finished with. Currently, a long-term, coherent infrastructure strategy is lacking, and the Government are failing to capitalise on the long-term benefits of upgrading our infrastructure. We need an infrastructure strategy now to face the challenges of the future, get to net zero, transform our energy and transport systems and solve our housing crisis. We need vision, not permanent crisis management.

Public investment levels in the UK are too low and too volatile. We have averaged 2.5% of GDP per year this century—well below the 3.7% average for industrialised countries. The UK’s frequent large changes in investment spending plans mean that it has the most volatile annual growth rate among all OECD advanced economies bar one, which makes it harder to deliver investments. The Government are failing to spend around £1 in every £6 they want to spend. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that infrastructure investment is one of the Government’s main growth priorities, but the National Infrastructure Commission has argued that they are not delivering fast enough.

Infrastructure enables trade, powers businesses and connects us all. It creates opportunities for struggling communities and protects us from an increasingly unpredictable natural environment. Weak investment in infrastructure makes all this harder. We need strong infrastructure commitments and the certainty that projects will go ahead on time and continue to be funded appropriately.

Government dither and delay over infrastructure investment is making us all poorer. Take transport: the Government have said that their decision to delay building the Birmingham to Crewe leg of High Speed 2 and the planned link into central London was made to balance the books.

[Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)]

I share my hon. Friend’s concerns that even the Government’s attempts to keep construction of HS2 in budget will, in practice, only add to the already spiralling costs. Surely this shows that spending on HS2 is completely out of control. Whatever our views on this particular project— I personally think it is no longer value for money and should be scrapped—does she agree that it demonstrates a clear need for the Government to more closely monitor the progress of such projects, particularly where the taxpayer is pouring in billions of pounds?

[Wera Hobhouse]

My hon. Friend’s intervention goes straight to the issue. What were the initial contracts the Government signed with contractors? We have to scrutinise the plans for delivery to make them viable for taxpayers. To pick up my hon. Friend’s point, the National Audit Office has said that the decision to delay will lead to additional costs and potentially a more expensive project overall. The Transport Secretary himself even admitted that the delay would not save money—I would be interested to hear how much it will cost the taxpayer. I agree with my hon. Friend that, whatever our views are on HS2, it is important to know what the overall delay will cost the taxpayer.

The Institution of Civil Engineers says that delaying HS2 could make the building process

“more difficult as construction firms shift their focus to other countries.”

Whether or not we agree with HS2, this incessant delay and further uncertainty benefits no one.

Another example of this Government’s short-sightedness is the M4 to Dorset coast strategic road network, which is due to undergo major upgrades. This is a matter of great importance to my Bath constituents. The present strategic route is a mixture of the A36 and A46 and goes right through the centre of Bath—a world heritage site. My local Liberal Democrat council has rightly argued that the route should not go through Bath. I recently met with the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden), and National Highways to hear more about how the M4 to Dorset coast study is progressing.

National Highways said that the route through Bath has high accident rates, is heavily congested and has more cars passing through than it was designed for; it also said that the A350 route via Chippenham delivers greater benefits and has fewer challenges. However, it is still considering using the Bath route. I understand that money does not grow on trees, but why are the Government not giving enough attention to the long-term benefits to people, which include health? The A36-A46 route through Bath is not fit for purpose. The Government know this, but they are paralysed when it comes to promoting and delivering alternative routes.

The Government also fail to deliver for rail electrification. We need to electrify our railway to get to net zero. The Railway Industry Association notes that an electric railway is the cheapest to operate, saving £2 million to £3 million per vehicle. Electric trains are also up to 300% more reliable than diesel trains, and are three times more efficient than diesel or hydrogen trains. Electrifying our railway is a no-brainer. However, the Government cannot see past the short-term cost. Network Rail has said that 278 miles of track must be electrified every year to reach net zero. Last year, the Government added only 1.4 miles of newly electrified track.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

The hon. Member is making an interesting speech, and I agree with some of what she has said, but let us be clear: the reason so little track was built was because Network Rail failed to deliver it. That is not the Government’s fault; that is an implementation fault. Network Rail has actually underspent its investment budget in the last two control periods. It is not a question of money not arriving or the Government not doing their job; Network Rail is supposed to deliver the project but has failed to do so.

[Wera Hobhouse]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention; I have already answered half the points he raises. The problem is that the Government need a scrutiny process to ensure that those contracts are delivered on time and on budget. There seems to be something wrong with the Government’s system to keep track of them, because in the end, big infrastructure projects are national projects, and the Government should have some interest in how they are delivered.

Bath has a big air pollution problem. The council has tried to address the issue by introducing a clean air zone, amid considerable opposition, but the electrification of the line through Bath has been on hold for years, and dirty diesel trains are still going through the city. How can I persuade my constituents that it is reasonable to stop them from driving their diesel cars through Bath when the public transport alternative is still operating on polluting diesel fuel? Air pollution kills. Not getting on with electrification is a complete dereliction of duty, not just to our net zero plans but to public health—and that costs a lot of money if we get it wrong.

Just over a year ago, the Treasury blocked a £30 billion plan to electrify Britain’s railways over the next 30 years. The Government said that Great British Railways would produce a 30-year plan to electrify the railways. However, that organisation is not expected to be fully up and running until 2024 at the earliest—more dither and delay. We have not even seen the Government’s plans for a transport Bill. I am interested to hear from the Minister whether the Treasury is kicking electrification into the long grass.

Sustainability should be woven into all aspects of transport infrastructure policy, not just for climate but for health reasons, as I have mentioned. The Government recently announced that overall funding for active travel in the current parliamentary term is being reduced by £800 million. That includes a cut of dedicated capital funding by two thirds over the next two years. It is a backwards move and will counteract the tremendous progress we have seen in recent years.

I am a keen cyclist, and I try to do most of my journeys within Bath on my bike. I am fully aware of the benefits of supporting active travel, which far outweigh the costs. People walking, wheeling and cycling in 2021 saved 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, prevented 138,000 serious long-term health conditions and avoided more than 29,000 early deaths. Active travel contributed £36.5 billion to the economy in 2021, and with continued investment, that would only increase. I urge the Government to reverse the cut to active travel infrastructure, and help more people to actively walk, wheel or cycle to the places they need to go to. Will the Government support the Liberal Democrat’s plan for a £20 billion community clean air fund that will create new walking and cycle routes, as well as expanding bus routes and creating new council-led clear air zones for congested towns and cities?

The Government might claim that all those decisions were made to protect the public finances, but that is ironic, given their record of wasting money. Network Rail has spent more than £25 million on the new station at Reading Green Park. Its response to my written question had me wondering whether the decimal point was in the wrong place. The National Infrastructure Commission and the Climate Change Committee wrote a joint letter to the Government last year urging them to produce better plans to improve the resilience of infrastructure to climate change. Record temperatures last summer forced the cancellation of hundreds of train services, and flights were stopped at London Luton airport after heat melted the runway.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in his former role as Transport Secretary, warned that it will take decades to make the UK transport system resilient to extreme heat, but we do not have decades to wait. If we do not prioritise climate adaptation now, we will pay for it later. A full national-scale economic review of resilience and adaptation, led by the Treasury, is needed to quantify the value of climate adaptation, and therefore to incentivise investment in resilience. Investment in renewables is vital to combat climate change and preserve our energy security. If the Government had supported renewables harder, faster and earlier, my constituents would not be paying the price for Putin’s war now.

China is currently the biggest investor in renewable energy. It accounts for just under half of global energy transition investment. Cumulative growth in Chinese wind power between 2021 and 2022 was more than three times greater than in the US and more than seven times greater than in Europe. If we fail to prioritise renewable investment now, we risk moving our energy dependence from one autocratic power to another. If we want to be a global competitor, we must get our act together now.

The US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act will be transformative and will incentivise huge investment in new renewable technologies and crucial net zero infrastructure, but our Government are not following them. There was no new funding on Energy Security Day, and the Chancellor has refused to go toe to toe with the Inflation Reduction Act. The UK’s investment in the energy transition fell by 10% from 2021 to 2022. In contrast, similar investment rose by nearly a quarter in the US and by 17% in countries such as Germany. When will we see a real response from the Government? Global competition over talent and resources is fierce, but the Government seem content to be left behind.

The UK has huge competitive advantages in renewables such as tidal, yet the Government have failed to give the industry the funding it needs to prosper. We still do not have enough detail about how net zero investment is being defined. I hope the Minister will provide some clarification today. If other countries provide greater certainty for green investment, we will see investors and engineers leave.

When he was Chancellor, the Prime Minister used Britishvolt as a success story. He said that the factory would produce enough batteries for more than 300,000 electric vehicles a year. The former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), told the House that support for Britishvolt would be delivered, and that the Government remained 100% behind the project, yet within a month it had collapsed. It is clear that mistakes were made at the company, but is there really nothing that the Government could have done to prevent the loss of a strategic battery producer? It is emblematic of an erratic Government without a plan—a Government who change their mind with the wind. Why on earth would people invest in the UK when they cannot have any confidence in what the Government will do from one month to the next?

The Treasury should consider giving a statutory underpinning to the publication of a national infrastructure strategy every five years, as opposed to once every Parliament. That would provide greater long-term clarity to investors, supply chains and other stakeholders about the Government’s plans. It would provide developers with a clear, long-term timeframe to plan ahead with confidence when delivering projects. The Institution for Civil Engineers argues that that means that projects can be delivered quicker and at a lower cost. Will the Minister meet it to discuss the detail of how that change would work in practice?

After the 2019 election, the Government set out their intention to raise public investment to a level not sustained since the 1970s, but now that pledge is in tatters. The Resolution Foundation has said that an increase in public investment set at around 3% of GDP would not only improve our infrastructure but would boost economic growth by about 0.8% over five years. Its research found that that boost would still allow us to keep our debt-to-GDP ratio on a downward path. According to the same research, the UK’s public investment levels could have been a transformational £500 billion higher if they had kept up with the OECD average over the past two decades. I am interested to hear whether the Government think that we should be working to close the gap with OECD counterparts.

The quality of our national infrastructure will determine the quality of our lives. It impacts how we communicate, travel and power our homes. Infrastructure in the UK is now not fit for purpose. This Government have become so focused on the here and now that they are unable to consider the future. They are so used to short-term firefighting that they are unable to take the long-term decisions that would stop fires happening in the first place. They have failed to safeguard our public finances to ensure that we can afford the vital investments that our communities are crying out for.

We need an urgent overhaul of our infrastructure strategy and more focus on the long term. Only then can we fix our crumbling and outdated infrastructure and build a vibrant, sustainable country that is fit for the 21st century.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Sharma. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing today’s very timely debate. It strikes at many of the issues that we face in politics at the moment—issues that must be dealt with over something longer than the current electoral cycle. One of the failings of politics and the frustrations with Government that we have all experienced over the years is that we are all focused on the next four or five-yearly electoral event. For some infrastructure projects—we have touched on HS2, and I will speak about some that are closer to home for me than that will ever be—we need a more strategic approach.

When it is at its best, the Treasury is very good at doing the strategic, but often it becomes a bit hidebound by its own rules, and it lacks a little of the creativity that we require. For those of us in the northern isles, the most important infrastructure that we have is our transport infrastructure, in particular our ferries. We have the ferries that go between Orkney and Shetland and Scotland—or mainland Scotland, as some people like to call it—and the ferries that go between the different isles that make up Orkney and Shetland. What brings me to the Chamber today is the community discussion of those internal ferry services in recent years.

Earlier in the sitting, I was pleased to welcome the announcement of funding of £26 million for a replacement Fair Isle ferry—a significant amount of money, but that money is critical to preserving one of the smallest and most economically fragile communities to be found anywhere in these islands. The geography of Shetland is such that, apart from Fair Isle, Foula and others, the islands are pretty close together on a map. To our mind, it makes perfect sense for those islands to be joined not by ferry services, which are subject to weather delays, breakdowns and all the rest of it, but by a series of short tunnels—fixed links. In recent years, the debate on the islands has very much headed in that direction. We look with some envy at what our Nordic cousins in the Faroe Islands have done by linking their islands together and at the west of Norway, where parts of the mainland are linked by tunnel, as indeed are some of the smaller islands.

As a consequence of those discussions, which have been happening in the community for some time, my colleague Beatrice Wishart MSP and I set up a series of town hall meetings in the summer of last year. Obviously there are no towns, so they were not in town halls; they were in community halls and church halls in Fetlar, Unst, Yell, Whalsay, Out Skerries and Bressay. In an age in which we are always told that people are uninterested in politics and will not turn out for a public meeting, about 250 people from these small communities came out over the course of a week to offer their views on what fixed links could do for their communities.

A tiny number of people demurred, but the overwhelming consensus was that in our communities the construction of fixed links could be absolutely transformative for the design and delivery of public services. Keeping GPs based in an island community of a few hundred people is a big ask, for example. Then there is the creation and ongoing maintenance of schools in those communities, which are constantly shifting.

I was born and brought up in Islay; I grew up there in the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s. In those days, one GP served our end of the island. If he went fishing for the day and someone had an accident, they had to wait until he came back from his fishing trip. In the 21st century, thankfully, that is not how the NHS works. We need a wider range of clinical practitioners, and people expect different standards from those practitioners. Maintaining public services of that sort in such communities becomes ever more difficult and challenging for us.

At every meeting we heard the same story. Overwhelmingly, the view was that young people wanted to stay in the outer isles in Shetland, but were forced to leave by the nature of the opportunities for employment, health and education for their family and were desperate to return. If these people stayed in our island communities, they would contribute to their economic growth. They would be able to found, run and grow businesses or maintain businesses that had been run by their family for generations, keeping children in the schools and keeping money going through local contractors into post offices, shops and all the rest of it.

For the bigger economic development projects, getting products from the outer isles to the market will always require at least one ferry service, but there is no reason it should need two. I think of businesses such as Cooke Aquaculture, which has a processing station in Mid Yell: it has to construct an entire staff rota on the availability of ferry services to get its product from Mid Yell down to Lerwick before it catches the ongoing ferry. That is how the infrastructure provided has a very direct impact on one of the most important food-producing businesses in my constituency.

[Wera Hobhouse]

I do not know too much about ferry services, but I think the point that my right hon. Friend is making is that we cannot just look at one product in isolation. The cost benefits are wider, in the round.

[Mr Carmichael]

Absolutely. I am horrified that, having been a colleague of mine, my hon. Friend says she does not know much about ferry services—she has clearly not been listening! However, the point she makes is a good one.

This is where Treasury rules and funding come into play. If we are looking at ferries, for example, we look for a pay-down over a 20-year or possibly 30-year period. A tunnel will be several times that, but Treasury rules constantly push people towards a like-for-like replacement. They seem to lack the flexibility and creativity necessary to provide the services that will maintain the economic and social viability of such communities in the longer term.

There is also a continuing role for EU—sorry, for Treasury—funding.

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[Wera Hobhouse]

I completely agree, but there is also the issue of the long term. I go to meetings and listen. Private investors in green infrastructure or insulation projects, for example, ask time and again for longer-term planning, because that is the only way they can deliver. Does the hon. Gentleman not agree?

[Stephen Hammond]

Private investors ask for two things: certainty that the project they are involved in will be delivered; and the certainty of an operating licence for a period, so that they can get back their investment. Therein lies the second accountability problem. In the operational phase, one should ensure the operator’s accountability. Design, build and finance operational models are well known throughout the world, and have delivered major infrastructure projects across the world—and, at times, in this country.

We must not close our eyes to the fact that the UK is still an attractive place to invest for many people. It has legal and regulatory certainty, which other countries do not have. It has certainty of Government. The Government should look again at the opportunities for an electrification infrastructure bond. What are the opportunities for working with major institutions, such as Siemens, that produce the battery infrastructure that could be accelerated into the rail industry? There are many opportunities for the Government and the country to look beyond the Government’s providing all the finance.

The key issues coming out of this debate are these. There is not a lack of vision, but a lack of implementation. We need to ensure that the bodies are put in place, be it Highways England, Network Rail, Great British Railways or BT Openreach. We have talked today only about transport and hard, physical infrastructure, but the investment in digital infrastructure and human infrastructure is almost as important for quality of life, which is a debate in itself. Getting the design and implementation phases right will undoubtedly make the financing of major infrastructure projects easier.

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[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)]

It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Sharma, particularly as this is my first outing as a Minister in Westminster Hall. What a great start!

There has been a really informed, detailed and, if I may say so, courteous display of speeches. The central core of every one of them was a deep care for our national infrastructure and a recognition of how important it is to all our constituencies. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing the debate—at the last minute, I hear, although you would not know it—and thank hon. Members for all the other contributions. I will try to cover off some of the points raised in the time available.

Good infrastructure acts as a knot that ties our communities and our Union together. It is a vital part of how we protect our environment and helps us to unlock economic potential. The Government, right up to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, are absolutely committed to delivering the long-term economic benefits derived from capital investment and infrastructure schemes. We want to build infrastructure that is modern, efficient and accessible to everybody across our four nations.

During this Parliament there has been a step change in how we fund national infrastructure, underpinned by our national infrastructure strategy, which was referenced by my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond). To achieve the aims of the strategy we are increasing funding; we have a strategy and we are matching it with funding. That was announced in the spending review of 2021. A multi-year settlement provided £100 billion of investment in economic infrastructure for this spending review period. That includes over £35 billion for rail investment—including, yes, HS2, which I will come to in a moment—and other rail enhancements to boost connectivity across our country. In the longer term, our integrated rail plan, published in November ’21, committed £96 billion for rail construction and upgrades, representing the biggest ever single investment into our rail network. It will deliver a modern network that will benefit small towns and big cities, boost productivity and bring our communities closer together.

The hon. Member for Bath referred to HS2, so let me address that head on. It is a key part of our rail strategy—a long-term investment that will improve connectivity across the country and provide a low-carbon alternative to cars and planes for many decades to come. It is already supporting tens of thousands of jobs. The Government remain absolutely committed to delivering HS2 from Euston to Manchester, and continue to push on with the sections in peak construction so that the first high-speed services—running from Old Oak Common in west London to Birmingham Curzon Street—can be delivered between 2029 and 2033.

[Wera Hobhouse]

I share the Minister’s wish for HS2, but it is just that because there are so many delays, we are losing the public. Is it not important that the Government really come clean and say, “We will deliver this, and it will be great for this, that and the other reason,” rather than putting doubt into people’s minds that it might not be delivered, might be only half-delivered, or whatever it is? Let us go out there and really sell this as a great improvement to our rail infrastructure. Does the Minister not agree?

[Gareth Davies]

I thank the hon. Lady, although I think we are selling it. She is absolutely right: it will boost productivity. It is creating jobs, as I have said, and it will boost connectivity. It is important that we all do go out and sell that. However, we have to be real: we have to balance the need for high-speed rail with sustainable public finances and respond to events as they happen around the globe. That is the reality of what we are doing with the recently announced rephasing. This is true for construction projects all over the country and, if I may say, in many parts of the world; we face significant inflation as a result of Putin’s war in Ukraine and supply shortages coming out of covid. We are reacting to that as hon. Members would expect any reasonable and responsible Government to do.

The hon. Member for Bath referenced the National Audit Office report—I can tell her that we are looking at that report very carefully and will respond in due course. However, the point I am trying to make is that on HS2 is that it is vital and we are committed to it, but we have had to make difficult decisions and choices in order to balance the need for both robust transport infrastructure and robust public finances, which we will always do for the British people.

More broadly, as has been mentioned by many speakers, we are improving rail connectivity and restoring our transport services across the country, but in particular to reverse the 1960 Beeching cuts. It is important that we expand the rail network as well as improving the existing rails.

In the interest of time, I will pick up some of the direct points raised by hon. Members. The hon. Member for Bath should be aware that I am briefed on the M4, which she mentioned—even though I am only a week in, I know about the M4 connection to Dorset. The hon. Lady will know that the DFT commissioned a study by National Highways on that route, and its outcomes are being carefully considered by the Government and wider stakeholders. It is a live discussion and we look to come back on that very soon.

The hon. Member for Bath and my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon also made some excellent points on rail electrification. The hon. Lady should be aware of the transport decarbonisation plan, which will deliver a net zero railway by 2050. She referenced some specific statistics, and I will respond with a couple of my own: since 2010, we have electrified 1,224 miles of track, of which 1,000 miles have been installed in the past five years alone—compared, by the way, with just 70 miles electrified in England and Wales between 1997 and 2010. I think we are doing a pretty good job, although there is more to do. I do not think anybody would deny that.

The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) made a very insightful and interesting speech about the challenges his constituents face. I will look into the issue he raised about Treasury responsibility for the pot and come back to him.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon said eloquently that these things do not all rest on Government finances; the Government cannot pick up the tab for all our infrastructure projects. The benefits of our national infrastructure strategy will be secured through Government and private funding, so we will win the prize by mobilising private capital investment. Almost half of the UK’s future infrastructure pipeline is forecast to be privately financed, and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority recently estimated that the total infrastructure investment for the next decade across the public and private sectors will be nearly £650 billion.

As my hon. Friend mentioned, we are building on a strong base. The UK is a great centre for private investment. We have a strong system of regulation, a strong legal framework that is replicated all around the world, and a leading financial and services sector that helps to mobilise private capital. He talked about the bond market, and as he knows we are one of the leading issuers of green gilts. We are doing a lot to help mobilise private capital, but critical to our financing will be the mechanisms and institutions that we have available to mobilise private capital. That is why, when I was a Back-Bench MP, I was delighted to join him in the debate on the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will play a massive role in funding the projects that people around the country rely on. It has been set one mission: to partner with the private sector and local government authorities to increase infrastructure investment in pursuit of two objectives. The first is to tackle climate change, and the second is to support regional and local economic growth through connectedness, opportunities for jobs and higher levels of productivity. As it stands, £22 billion of financial capability has been provided to the bank, and we expect it to crowd in private capital investment and support more than £40 billion of infrastructure investment. To date, it has already announced 15 deals worth more than £1.4 billion, covering clean energy, digital infrastructure and green transport. That will be transformational.

A lot of Members mentioned net zero, which is absolutely critical. What every party has in common is our commitment to the health of the planet. We are world leaders in fighting climate change and galvanising action on the global stage, as we saw at COP26, and we are right to do that at home with our net zero pledge. The UK already has a world-leading track record of delivering decarbonisation. We have reduced emissions faster than any G7 country since 1990. By the way, we have grown our economy by 75% over the same period.

The Government are committed to a total of £30 billion of domestic infrastructure for the green industrial strategy. Since March 2021, an additional £6 billion for energy efficiency was committed at the autumn statement, and £20 billion for carbon capture, utilisation and storage was announced at the spring Budget. We have in place a clear strategy to deliver on our net zero obligations, deliver energy security and drive economic growth.

To Members who question our ambition and ask whether it is achievable, I say look at what we have already done. Some 71% of all UK households have access to gigabit-capable broadband—an uplift of 8% since November 2021—and we are on track to reach a target of 85% coverage by 2025 and at least 99% by 2030. Some 92% of the UK has access to 4G mobile coverage, and we are on track to meet the Shared Rural Network target of 95%, which has a big impact on Scotland. We also had the opening of the Elizabeth line between Paddington and Abbey Wood. Those are all high-quality infrastructure priorities and projects, and other crucial projects will be announced for economic growth, boosting productivity and competitiveness.

We will go on. We will continue with our strategy, our funding and our prioritisation of national infrastructure. We will transform our railways, including HS2 to Manchester, East West Rail and the Northern Powerhouse Rail core network. We will secure the UK’s energy security through delivering new nuclear power, including Sizewell C, and the roll-out of cheap, clean renewables, including wind and solar.

Infrastructure offers us one of the most exciting and efficient direct ways of improving living standards, boosting our economy and supporting our communities, and I appreciate the opportunity to outline that today.

[Wera Hobhouse]

The debate has been interesting and I thank all colleagues for being here and sharing their considered thoughts. I think we all agree that long-term infrastructure projects are vital for our four nations. They are complex to deliver and see through; they require a well-resourced Treasury and a vision that survives from one Government to the next; and last but not least—we have not really talked about this—they require an engaged public who share that vision and are prepared to see it through with the Government of the day. If that is true of anything, it is true of getting to net zero. We agree on a lot of things, but I think we disagree about the pace of change, which for me is not fast enough. The Government will of course say, “Yes, we are getting there,” but that is the nature of these debates, and I am glad that we had such a considered debate today.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered funding for major infrastructure projects.