Ms Orvis said: "Today's announcement by the chancellor yet again started full of promise as he repeated his commitment to the sector. However, it ended up being disappointing notwithstanding the announcement of an additional £3bn for the sector. The disappointment is that this funding will not be available until 2015-16 and there is a complete lack of clarity over what it will be spent on. This time the real detail will not been revealed until June.
"The chancellor was right to point out that we are in a global race for investment and jobs. Sadly the lack of real opportunities announced by this government leaves the UK less and less attractive in the global market.
"The government claims to see infrastructure as a key element of its growth strategy but has singularly and repeatedly failed to deliver budget after budget. And time is running out as even announcing new major projects now won’t deliver growth in the short term.
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"Now is the time to start delivering before investors and contractors look to exploit other opportunities. Major British contractors are already looking elsewhere such as India and Sub-Saharan Africa. The drain of experience from the UK will continue if the UK government delays real announcements on infrastructure projects."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Richard Bowker, senior advisor at EC Harris and former CEO of the Strategic Rail Authority. Mr Bowker said: “Whilst £3bn extra for infrastructure capital spend might at first appear welcome, it does not kick in until 2015, the details of the schemes are yet to be explained and it still only represents a fraction of what is identified in the National Infrastructure Plan pipeline.
“It is to be welcomed that someone with the track record of Lord Deighton is to look hard at the mechanisms for delivery of infrastructure projects. We look forward to concrete proposals in June as to how delivery will be transformed.”
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