The institution’s 2026 State of the Nation report pinpoints major changes required to make Westminster’s 10-year plan achievable.
If the construction industry is to deliver the UK government’s hugely ambitious 10-year infrastructure strategy, urgent improvements are needed in three key areas, the ICE has warned.
Revealed in the institution’s latest State of the Nation report, they are:
- supply chain capacity and productivity
- innovation
- collaboration
With £725bn worth of economic and social infrastructure projects scheduled over the next decade, the industry is under pressure to build large assets such as reservoirs and nuclear plants quickly.
Civil and infrastructure engineers must manage this task while also keeping badly ageing ones, especially in the transport and water sectors, safe and fit for purpose.
To inform the report, the institution held roundtables involving experts in the transport, energy and water sectors. It also held in-depth interviews with several other senior industry figures.
The consensus from these discussions was that significant improvements are needed in the following key areas.
1. Supply chain capacity and productivity
Given the construction industry’s recent struggles to recruit and retain skilled workers, the report recommends that Westminster should publish a national workforce strategy to help deliver the infrastructure pipeline.
Boosting productivity and capacity also means making the best use of equipment and materials. The construction of Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk is a case in point.
Featuring heavily in the report, it shows how a large project can best apply measures such as long-term workforce planning, smart logistics and offsite manufacture.
2. Innovation
Adopting advanced digital tech will enable the industry to work smarter as well as harder.
The report highlights a powerful new database that’s starting to make streetworks in the UK far more efficient: the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR).
NUAR provides detailed information on the location of buried pipes and cables. It’s helping users to avoid damaging these assets during excavations, potentially preventing thousands of unnecessary delays to works and the resulting disruption to utility services.
But it’s not all about technology. The use of innovative fundraising methods such as the regulated asset base model will be crucial to securing all the investment that projects need.
One of the report’s key recommendations to the government is to set aside revenue from road user charging to provide much-needed extra money for highway maintenance.
3. Collaboration
The industry’s traditional approaches to procurement have largely proved inefficient.
By contrast, multi-year framework agreements that enable longer-term collaborations between clients and suppliers aid problem-solving and create trust.
The water sector leads the way here. State of the Nation 2026 highlights the alliance between client, contractor and the supply chain that is building Havant Thicket Reservoir in Hampshire.
This delivery model will need to be copied more widely if the sector is to achieve the grand reservoir-building plans in Westminster’s 10-year infrastructure strategy.
“For the strategy to succeed, real progress needs to be demonstrated as soon as possible,” writes ICE President David Porter in his foreword to the report.
He adds: “Everyone in the sector must play their part if we are to deliver the infrastructure improvements that society needs so that people and the planet can thrive.”
About State of the Nation
Published annually, State of the Nation has been the ICE’s flagship report since 2002.
Based on expert input from members and extensive research, it aims to stimulate debate and highlight measures that could benefit UK infrastructure.
The report’s conclusions will also be used to inform the institution’s annual knowledge programme, which delivers content and events to support members’ continuing professional development.
The ICE would like to know what you think of the findings, so please get in touch or share your feedback on social media.
- James Brockett, knowledge editorial specialist at the ICE
Extracted from the ICE website, read more here