Labour will launch its 10-year infrastructure plan this week, which it claims will be worth £725bn as it builds homes, roads, railways, hospitals, and schools across the UK.
The Treasury says the move will “overhaul the country’s economic, social, and housing infrastructure”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out four key priorities for the plan, which covers:
- Upgrading transport networks to connect towns and cities
- Tackle the housing crisis by boosting the delivery of affordable high-quality homes.
- Modernising public services such as hospitals, schools and other local facilities
- Accelerating Britain’s clean energy transition
The infrastructure plan is intended to bring more predictability to Britain’s capital spending by attracting more pension funds and other private finance options and expertise.
Reeves says: “For too long, our infrastructure – our schools and hospitals, or our roads and bridges – have been left to crumble, holding back communities and stunting economic growth.
“We are investing in Britain’s future, brick by brick, road by road and track by track.”
The infrastructure plan follows Labour’s spending review last week, which saw Reeves allocate an extra £113bn in borrowed money for capital projects over this parliament, while setting out cuts in day-to-day spending across government departments.
As part of the spending review, the Chancellor earmarked £39bn to build social and affordable housing.
In April, the government merged two infrastructure bodies into one, to form the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, to “get a grip” on the delivery of new roads, schools and hospitals to support the 1.5 million new homes it plans to build over the next five years.
