National Infrastructure Commission

The National Infrastructure Commission (the Commission) was launched in October 2015, having been announced at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference.

The Commission provides independent advice and analysis to government on the infrastructure requirements and future strategy for infrastructure decisions in the UK. The Commission’s objectives are to:

• support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK
• improve competitiveness; and
• improve quality of life.

In each Parliament, the Commission will provide a comprehensive report on the UK’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years (the ‘National Infrastructure Assessment’). The Government must issue a response to all of the report’s recommendations.

The Commission’s first National Infrastructure Assessment was published in July 2018. The Assessment makes a series of recommendations, including on low carbon energy, digital technology, the future for the nation’s roads, encouraging growth of cities, tackling floods and cutting waste. The Government’s response to the assessment was published alongside the National Infrastructure Strategy in November 2020. The Government either fully, mostly or partially endorsed 56 of the Assessment’s 64 recommendations.

In addition to the National Infrastructure Assessments, the Commission publishes reports on individual infrastructure projects as requested by the Government. It also produces a report each year (the ‘Annual Monitoring Report’) taking stock of the Government’s progress in areas where it has committed to taking forward recommendations of the Commission.