Transport spending dominates UK Government Construction Pipeline

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Rail works taking place recently near Watford. Photo courtesy of Network Rail

Transport projects dominate the government’s Construction Pipeline according to analysis of the £116Bn of planned spending by KPMG, holding out the prospect of secure long term careers in transport infrastructure construction and maintenance.

 

Transport projects account for £66.2Bn of the pipeline total, some 57%, says the KPMG report ‘UK Government Construction Pipeline - KPMG Analysis’. It looks at the £116Bn set to be spent by central and local government across 1,886 projects in three spend periods: 2014-16, 2016-20, and 2020 and beyond.

 

Of the allocated transport investment, the HS2 project alone accounts for £23.9Bn across the three spend periods.

 

After transport, energy projects are the second largest category by value at £14.8Bn – nearly 13% of the total pipeline value. However transport and energy combined contribute only 6% of the entire pipeline of projects by number of schemes.

 

Meanwhile the highest numbers of projects are in the defence, justice and police sectors. These make up 70% of the pipeline by number but contribute just 7% of its total value.

 

KPMG UK head of infrastructure, building and construction Richard Threlfall said: “The total number of schemes is over 1,800, but in practice most of those schemes are individually of small value.

 

“It is concerning that a third of the total projects currently have no specified completion date as industry confidence in the pipeline would be improved if there was certainty around timescales to get schemes delivered,” he added.

 

Other highlights to note from the report include that almost one third of the total number of projects are in the South East and South West, but by value, nearly half are national projects benefitting the whole of England such as HS2 and national road schemes.

 

Although 40% of the projects are to complete before 2016, they represent only 7% of the total allocated pipeline value.

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