Infrastructure
Our research assesses infrastructure decision making and how it can be improved.
Infrastructure decision making
How to transform infrastructure decision making in the UK
How competing needs and perspectives can be balanced to improve three vital aspects of infrastructure policy: time, quality and cost.
How to design an infrastructure strategy for the UK
The Government should create a new commission to involve local people in major infrastructure projects.
What’s wrong with infrastructure decision making?
Making decisions about infrastructure is one of the most important but difficult tasks for the UK government.
High Speed 2
HS2 is a fiasco of change and churn
Rishi Sunak's HS2 cancellation does not look like long-term decision making.
Timeline of key HS2 decisions and developments 2009–23
The HS2 scheme has become controversial due to delays, cost increases and decisions from central government to scrap sections of the line.
The latest HS2 delays expose deeper problems with UK infrastructure planning
HS2's troubled history points to deeper problems with the way the UK plans major infrastructure projects.
HS2: lessons for future infrastructure projects
How government can ensure future infrastructure spending is money well spent – and where ministers can learn from the mistakes of the HS2 project.
High Speed 2 costs
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a proposal to build a high-speed rail line in two parts – ‘Phase 1’ between London and Birmingham, and then ‘Phase 2’ between Bi
HS2 is still the quickest way to invest in northern and Midlands transport
HS2 is still the quickest way for Boris Johnson to fulfil his plans to upgrade northern and Midlands transport.
Key explainers
Financing infrastructure
Financing is distinct from funding, and there are two broad ways to this applies to infrastructure.
Big vs small infrastructure projects: does size matter?
Infrastructure projects fall into three categories: small, major, and ‘mega’.
Financing infrastructure
How to get better private finance deals for infrastructure
Ministers are hampering progress towards their own objective of increasing private investment in UK infrastructure at a good price.
Public versus private: how to pick the best infrastructure finance option
Why a bias towards private infrastructure finance exists in government, and how this can be addressed.
How to value infrastructure
Government must get better at valuing the costs and benefits of infrastructure.
Our events
Why does the UK underinvest in public service infrastructure – and how can the problem be fixed?
Lord O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary, joined us to discuss why the UK has set relatively low capital budgets.
How can the government provide certainty over its investment plans to promote growth?
This event explored this key question from both the perspective of the government and industry.
IfG at the Conservative Party Conference 2021, Manchester
The Institute for Government hosted a number of fringe events at the 2021 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
IfG at the Labour Party Conference 2021, Brighton
The Institute for Government hosted a number of fringe events at the 2021 Labour Party Conference in Brighton.
Our infrastructure team
Gemma Tetlow
Chief Economist
HS2 is a fiasco of change and churn
Jeremy Pattison
Research Assistant