In the City Can the UK Spending Review Turn Ambition into Action?
Jun 5, 2025
Sam Richards, chief executive of Britain Remade and a former special advisor at Number 10, joins the hosts for a deep dive into the UK's upcoming spending review. The discussion highlights a potential shift towards infrastructure funding, examining its implications for energy, housing, and transportation. They tackle the complexities of major projects, the need for regulatory reforms, and the challenges of balancing development with environmental concerns. Richards emphasizes the importance of strategic investment to avoid bureaucracy and ensure sustainable growth.
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Britain's Infrastructure Growth Challenge
- Britain's fundamental growth problem stems from underinvestment in new energy, housing, and transport infrastructure.
- Addressing working people's priorities means lowering housing and energy costs and improving connectivity.
Costly Infrastructure Projects
- Infrastructure projects in the UK are incredibly expensive, partly due to prolonged environmental mitigations and planning hurdles.
- The government aims to streamline regulations and reduce litigation to lower these prohibitive costs.
Nature Protection Challenges
- Despite costly infrastructure delays, current systems fail to adequately protect nature, with biodiversity indicators declining.
- Protection efforts are piecemeal and lack a strategic nationwide approach, complicating both conservation and development.