Weekly news round-up - 19 March 2014

Your rapid update on the week's infrastructure stories.

Thomas Paterson
19 March 2014
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  1. The Commons Transport Committee has said that it is not convinced the case has been made to turn the Highways Agency into an arms length government company. In a letter to roads minister Robert Goodwill, committee chair Louise Ellman (pictured) said: “Overall we are not convinced by the case for establishing a government-owned company given that the Highways Agency’s remit is not being extended. The proposed benefits seem achievable through better management of the existing Highways Agency.” A full report is due from the committee in April.

  2. Chancellor George Osborne has announced £200M investment and establishment of a garden city development corporation to create a new 15,000 home settlement beside Ebbsfleet HS1 station. He also extended the Help to Buy scheme for new homes to 2020.

  3. Public consultation on a second runway for Gatwick Airport opens on 4 April. The airport is seeking views and suggestions over a six week period. Option 1 is a new runway 585m south of the existing runway. Option 2 is a new runway 1,450m south of the existing runway used for landings with the other for take offs. Option 3 is similar in layout to option 2 but both runways would be used for landings and take offs.

  4. HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins along with Treasury commercial secretary and chair of the HS2 growth taskforce Lord Deighton will be appearing at special session of the Commons Transport Committee on 25 March. The meeting will discuss the Higgins HS2 report published on Monday and Lord Deighton’s review of the economic benefits of the project which is expected Friday.

  5. Cutting-edge science projects received a £300M boost.  Government has found £165M for the European Spallation Source, a giant, powerful neutron microscope which will be able to better observe the world and the universe; a £100M contribution to the Square Kilometre Array – the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world; and £25M to participate in the M3 Space Mission with the UK taking a leading role on PLATO, a giant telescope made up of 34 telescopes.

  6. EU politicians last week voted for tougher rules on exposing the environmental impact of oil and conventional oil and gas exploration while excluding shale gas. Member states such as Britain and Poland are pushing hard for the development of shale gas, seen as one way to lessen dependence on Russian gas, as well as to lower energy costs as it has in the United States.

  7. Government is planning to rationalise housing standards, reducing numbers from 100 to 10. Those that will be abolished include the requirement for rainwater harvesting in places that have no water shortages and measures that mean the same work has to be checked by different organisations. There will also be optional building regulations to apply “only when it is right to” such as for water efficiency requirements. Energy efficiency standards will in future be set through national building regulations rather than locally set targets.

  8. Commuter services on HS1 in Kent are to be extended due to passenger demand. Train company Southeastern is to add a “coastal loop” service following significant growth in passenger numbers on the high speed service from Dover, Canterbury, Ashford and Ebbsfleet. If approved by Department for Transport the services will start in December.

  9. New data from public spending analysis resource Spend Network has revealed that the government’s tendering system takes 53 days longer than the EU average, placing the UK as the third slowest country behind Greece and Ireland. Results from a five year period were analysed relating to 1.8M EU tenders. On average the company found it takes 172 days for the UK government to award a contract at both a central and local level. With an EU average of 119 days, this inefficiency in the UK’s procurement process has been calculated as “starving” the economy of £22bn.

  10. Air pollution forced Paris to restrict access to the city by cars and other motor vehicles on Monday. Only those with odd-numbered registration plates were allowed to drive into the centre and 22 surrounding suburbs. 0ver 4000 fines were issues. The restriction was dropped on Tuesday.