What are the lessons from HS2 for future major infrastructure projects?

Boris Johnson’s government has ambitious plans to rapidly increase public investment, including as part of its target to level up parts of the UK that have been left behind. Well-designed infrastructure projects can have long-term economic benefits. However, the controversy that has surrounded the HS2 rail link from London to the north of England demonstrates the problems that can arise when major infrastructure decisions are made without clear objectives, without proper use of evidence, when alternative options are written off too early, when there is a lack of transparency and accountability for decisions, and when central government fails to engage adequately with local communities and subnational authorities.

With the government preparing for the long-awaited multiyear spending review in the autumn, which is expected to flesh out plans for ramping up capital spending, the Institute for Government held a private roundtable on 21 July 2021 to examine what should be learned from the HS2 experience to help government achieve better value for money and better outcomes from future major infrastructure projects.

This roundtable drew on new analysis from Professor Stephen Glaister of the problems that beset HS2.

See our work on infrastructure, the use of evidence in transport and energy policy, and accountability within government.