Investment in roads must be priority in transport strategy, according to the manufacturers’ organisation, the EEF. In addition, expansion is needed at Heathrow and regional airports and an infrastructure commission must be set up, it said.
The call comes on the back of a survey published today by EEF showing the potential threat from the UK’s stretched infrastructure to business competitiveness and hitting export targets.
Less than a quarter of manufacturers surveyed said that investment in high-speed rail is important to their company’s growth. Looking forward to future spending priorities, the overwhelming majority of the manufacturers surveyed see the road network as the number one priority for investment in transport infrastructure. In contrast the rail network was seen as a priority for just 6% of companies, yet rail investment currently attracts 30% more funding than roads.
“Political prevarication and policy reversals have left Britain in the slow lane in developing its infrastructure for decades,” said EEF head of business environment policy Roger Salomone. “The forthcoming transport strategy is an opportunity to address this. Government must reassess its investment priorities, act faster on major issues like airport capacity and take the politics out of infrastructure by setting up an independent commission.”
In particular, the road network is the backbone of the economy but, it has been neglected, he said. “We are now feeling the ill effects, with the majority of firms reporting that the state of the nation’s roads is significantly increasing their operating costs. Investment should be targeted at shovel-ready maintenance projects and bringing forward upgrades to heavily congested arteries.”
World-class air links are critical to export-led growth and attracting inward investment, said Salomone. “To keep up with the competition we need investment across the board, in Heathrow and in regional airports. Maintaining our status as a global aviation hub is critical to our international standing and expanding runway capacity at Heathrow is the most viable way to secure this.”
The survey found that four-fifths of manufacturers identify the road network as critical to their business and half of manufacturers say that the state of the UK’s roads significantly increases their operating costs.
Three-quarters of export-intensive manufacturers identify aviation infrastructure as important to identifying new business opportunities and half of foreign-owned manufacturing businesses say aviation is a key factor in deciding where to invest.
Two-thirds of export-intensive manufacturers identify investment in road access to international gateways, such as ports, as critical to their growth. A third of the most export-intensive firms say the state of the UK’s port infrastructure has significantly increased their operating costs.
The survey called for a greater share of public spending on transport infrastructure to be allocated to roads. Reprioritised or additional funds should initially be targeted at projects that give the economy a significant and timely boost such as tackling the backlog in local road maintenance and bringing forward planned upgrades to heavily congested arteries to major ports, it said.
Government should allow investment at Heathrow providing environmental concerns can be addressed. Although those surveyed found roads to be more important to them than rail, the survey called for the timetable for HS2 to be accelerated and the government needs to articulate a vision for maximising the industrial benefits for UK plc.
All options for funding investment in our strategic road network must be considered. The government should widen its review into alternative funding models to include road pricing, said EEF.
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