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Policy win - government confirms support for strategic infrastructure projects
Last week (29 January), Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered a speech outlining the government’s plans for economic growth, in which she confirmed government support for a number of nationally important infrastructure projects, which Logistics UK has long called for.
Announcements included support for a third runway at Heathrow and the Lower Thames Crossing project. Amongst several other projects, she also backed a partnership between Prologis and East Midlands Airport to deliver a new logistics and manufacturing site at the airport.
Logistics UK has continuously highlighted the strategic importance of the Lower Thames Crossing, and in the summer co-ordinated a letter sent to the Secretary of State for Transport on behalf of numerous organisations, including Port of Dover and British Chambers of Commerce, outlining its importance and calling for the Development Consent Order to be approved.
The business group also held a parliamentary reception highlighting the benefits that the delivery of the crossing would have for the UK economy and exports. In addition, Logistics UK has raised concerns over the decline in efficiency of UK logistics. The World Bank Logistics Productivity Index shows that the UK has slipped from fourth in the world to nineteenth in the last 10 years – primarily because of congestion and delays, friction at our borders, and a lack of infrastructure investment.
The group is calling for the right investments, to get back to fourth in the World Bank Index. Research conducted by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the business group suggests that would turbocharge growth across the whole economy. It is critical that logistics has a place on the government’s Industrial Strategy Council to ensure that industry can provide the engine for future economic growth.
Logistics UK will continue to call for investment in better maintenance of existing strategic and local infrastructure to improve reliability and safety and for investment and planning decisions focused on enabling efficient logistics and tackling the UK's congestion hotspots.
For the longer term, the UK requires a national logistics transport network, to guide the investment needed to deliver goods in the optimum productive, strategic and green way.
Published On: 06/02/2025 14:03:22
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