The UK’s biggest infrastructure projects could grind to a halt unless the government takes urgent action to tackle the skills and funding crisis, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has warned.
In an Autumn Statement wish list addressed to chancellor George Osborne, RICS has called for more government money to be allocated to plug a £400bn infrastructure funding gap, an urgent review of barriers to private sector investment in infrastructure, and the creation of a construction skills investment charter.
Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at the RICS, said the UK cannot rely on Chinese cash alone to address the country’s investment needs – from transport systems to broadband and energy infrastructure.
Tender prices for infrastructure projects are expected to rise by around 30% over the next five years, according to RICS data.
Researchers have also claimed that the skills shortage around infrastructure is now at its highest level for 20 years – after an estimated 400,000 people left the construction industry during the recession.
A RICS survey found that 43% of firms were turning down business opportunities due to a dearth of skilled workers, with each of them passing up an average of five contracts a year.
This is expected to rise to 54% by 2019, meaning the surveying sector’s 10,000 businesses could be turning down 27,000 projects between them each year if the current trends continue.
Led by ministers, the construction skills investment charter would incentivise employers and colleges who employ and train construction workers by offering reduced national insurance contributions and tax relief for local investment in construction colleges, academies and school programmes.
The investment review would be modelled on the Montague Review of real estate investment trusts and would report to ministers and Lord Adonis, who was recently appointed to chair the National Infrastructure Commission.
The RICS has also urged the chancellor to include property taxes as part of his business tax roadmap, forecasting future rates of interests in the same format as the Bank of England.
