T

he Autumn Statement was the third major fiscal event for the UK in two months. Is it any wonder that uncertainty is at the very top of business leaders’ concerns?

We are living through challenging times, but the recent levels of political instability have made it difficult and sometimes nigh on impossible – for all businesses in all sectors – to enact sustainable plans to deal with a frankly difficult situation.

In any normal circumstances working in a world emerging from a global pandemic, facing an inflationary crisis, and a conflict on the edges of Europe would be challenging, but for businesses in the UK, the situation has been further compounded by recent domestic political events.

For our members, who need to plan long-term to ensure they have the skills, resource and capacity to deliver the projects and programmes expected of them, certainty is of the utmost importance. For the multi-nationals in our sector, certainty will mean greater confidence in investing in UK operations.

This message of stability was one I shared with the Chancellor in a letter ahead of his Statement. I outlined the importance of our sector in delivering jobs, growth and opportunity while boosting productivity through maintaining investment in the infrastructure and construction pipeline – delivering our members the clarity they need to plan ahead.

For businesses in the UK, the situation has been further compounded by recent domestic political events. Stephen Marcos Jones, ACE CEO

Bearing this in mind, I was encouraged to see the Government maintain the capital programme, which means that the Northern Powerhouse Rail core, HS2, and new hospitals programme can continue, by and large, as previously announced. It was also positive to see progress on a new energy infrastructure, Sizewell C. While some in our sector have pointed out that the capital programme being maintained effectively means a cut owing to rising inflation, the fact remains in a fiscal event where around £35 billion of savings were made, our pipeline has emerged relatively unscathed, for now.

This should be viewed as an endorsement of our industry’s role in not only delivering the projects which will unlock opportunity across the UK, but in supporting government ambitions around innovation and increasing productivity.

In response, our industry will need to deliver its “side of the bargain” by investing in resource to meet this demand, but we should view the Autumn Statement as vindication for our sector which is seen as an important driver for economic growth and of huge strategic importance to the UK.

This blog originally appeared as an article in the latest Infrastructure Intelligence. Stephen Marcos Jones is CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE).