Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ branded ‘a false start’

The government has announced a fresh delay to the publication of the National Infrastructure Strategy as Boris Johnson’s blueprint for a post-lockdown infrastructure investment spree has been criticised by green campaigners.

In a set-piece speech in Dudley this morning (30 June), the prime minister set out a £5 billion infrastructure investment programme in England, which is designed to help revive the UK economy following its severe contraction in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson said: “To that end we will build, build, build. Build back better, build back greener, build back faster and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.”

The main green element of the proposed package is a recommitment to plant more than 75,000 acres of trees every year by 2025. The announcement also contains the commitment of £100 million for road projects.

However, the government has announced that the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS), the long awaited blueprint for investment in areas like energy networks and flood defences, will not now be published until the autumn.

The strategy, which is the government’s response to the assessment carried out by its advisors at the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), was due to be unveiled alongside the Budget earlier this year.

It emerged during the run-up to the Budget in early March that the NIS had been shelved amidst reports that it was being updated to better reflect the recently adopted 2050 net-zero target. The NIC’s assessment was published in the summer of 2018.

The government also said it intends to bring forward funding to accelerate infrastructure projects in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

However, responding to Number 10’s announcement, Shaun Spiers, executive director of Green Alliance, said that the package was a “false start” for efforts to tackle climate change.

“The government is strongly committed to fighting climate change and restoring the natural world. Now, as the government lifts the lockdown, it also has to revive the economy. Fortunately, tackling the environmental challenge will help revive the economy and create good jobs: there is no conflict between the two.

“Boris Johnson’s speech should have fired the starting gun on a healthier, more resilient future for the UK. Unfortunately, the PM seems to have got off to false start.

“This statement today is about putting shovels in the ground, but there is no point in that in the long term if it digs the UK deeper into trouble. Whether it’s ‘build, build, build’ or ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’, thousands of constituents around the country are today lobbying their MPs to say they want a truly green recovery.

“Let’s hope the Chancellor is listening and ups the government’s game next week – putting people, climate and nature front and centre of the government’s recovery strategy.”

Sir John Armitt, chair of the NIC, said: “Building back better, greener and faster are welcome ambitions and it is critical that we take immediate steps to secure jobs and build confidence across supply chains.

“Opportunities remain to accelerate work on rolling out full fibre broadband, energy efficiency installations and the electric vehicle charging network. Such steps will help ensure our recovery locks in environmental gains for the long term.

“To attract private investment to build on the public funding, and to ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver, building schemes need to be set within a longer term strategy that gives clarity on the future direction of government policy.

“We look forward to seeing more details of the government’s plans over the coming weeks and, most importantly, in the National Infrastructure Strategy later in the year.”

Energy efficiency

Several commentators referenced reports, which first appeared in Utility Week, that the Prime Minister’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings was uninspired by the need to target energy efficiency. A source told Utility Week: “Dominic Cummings is looking for the next big shiny things and it (energy efficiency) is not as sexy as technological or glamorous projects.”

In reaction to Johnson’s speech, Juliet Davenport, founder of Good Energy, said: “Build, build, building will be disastrous if homes are not warmer, greener and cleaner. It’s not enough to say you agree with building back greener, you actually have to spend the money where it matters most.

“This might be boring to Dominic Cummings, but it was pledged in the Conservative’s general election manifesto and required under this government on the pathway to net zero by 2050. Now when it is needed more than ever, rather than building better, the government seems to be bowing to the same old lobbies and going back to its dirty old ways.”

Speaking at an event just prior to the speech, Labour’s Alan Whitehead also urged the government to tackle the issue.

At a webinar held by clean energy fund Glennmont, the shadow energy minister said: “The Conservatives promised that they would spend £9.2 billion on energy efficiency and upgrading homes across the board that would be fit for a low carbon world. If they are true to their word, that would make a tremendous difference

“That ought to be brought forward and put to work immediately. It’s not terribly sexy but it’s just essential in terms of our low carbon future because we have some of the worst insulated home in Europe that leak energy like gazebos.

“It would be very, very disappointing if those reports prove to be true because it would be a dereliction of duty.”

The absence of a commitment to improve energy efficiency in Johnson’s speech was greeted with disappointment in other quarters.

Caroline Bragg, head of policy at the Association of Decentralised Energy, said speed was essential to prevent energy efficiency installers going out of business.

“’Build, build, build’ just isn’t enough- we need ‘retrofit, refurb and renovate’ to get into the green recovery now.

“As the PM said today- Covid has taught us the cost of delay. An announcement on backing our buildings in the autumn will be too late; the installers who would deliver this infrastructure revolution will have been moved from furlough to redundancy. Without this investment in energy efficiency coming forward promptly in a wider stimulus package, today’s announcement is more boondoggle than ‘build back better’.”

Nick Molho, executive director of the Aldersgate Group, said that the PM’s speech is an “important first step” but must be “rapidly” backed up by support for shovel ready projects and policy decisions aligned with the UK’s climate and clean growth goals.

He said: “This means focusing public investment and policy measures in areas such as nature restoration, energy efficiency, clean transport, industrial decarbonisation, and skills. Such an approach is not just needed to meet the UK’s environmental ambitions, but it is also essential to ensure that the UK’s recovery plan can address key public interest concerns around unemployment, regional inequality and resilience.”

More reaction

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the CBI, said Johnson’s speech had laid “strong foundations”.

However, she cautioned: “Foundations are there to be built on. More is needed to prevent the uneven scarring unemployment leaves on communities.”

She called for more funding for future skills in high potential areas including low carbon.

David Smith, the chief executive of the Energy Networks Association, welcomed the Prime Minister’s ambition, adding: Our members are the very ‘industries and infrastructure that can turn the tide on climate change’ which he previously described when setting out his ambitions for the green recovery, and they are foundational to almost every aspect of this transition.”

He went on to say: “The energy networks will provide the ‘smart’ backbone to the national uptake of electric vehicles, a fully flexible energy system, the shift to a hydrogen economy and the decarbonisation of heavy industry. They are also uniquely placed to develop these projects and deploy investment almost immediately, increasing employment opportunities in traditional and future-facing jobs, if the right investment frameworks are in place.

“Speed is of the essence in our fights against Coronavirus and climate change, and it’s a speed which the energy networks stand poised with, ready for action on net zero whilst ensuring energy customers enjoy a fairer, greener future.”