News

ACE praises chancellor for recognising value of infrastructure investment

"I am happy to say that 80% of ACE’s requests have been met by the chancellor in his budget." - Nelson Ogunshakin, chief executive of ACE.

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has praised the chancellor Philip Hammond for recognising in his budget the “intrinsic merit” in the trade body’s case that it is access to housing, jobs and affordable transport that will create the economic climate that will deliver future growth.

Commenting on the budget ACE chief executive Nelson Ogunshakin said: “The chancellor's speech continues to build on the government’s commitment to investment in the UK’s social and economic infrastructure which ACE welcomes.

"Alongside his continuing support for the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, we have seen an increase to £31bn for the National Productivity Investment Fund, £1.7bn for a City Transformation Fund and £64m for construction and digital training courses. All of which is welcome.”

Ogunshakin said that ACE had been working with the Treasury in the run up to the budget to highlight key issues for the construction sector to help drive economic growth and boost the industry. “I am happy to say that 80% of ACE’s requests have been met by the chancellor in his budget,” Ogunshakin said. “This covers investment in our cities transport, housing and skills base, commitments to investing in the East West Corridor (from Oxford to Cambridge), the provision of stimulus in science, innovation and technology based industries and investment in new digital technology.

“Although ACE broadly welcomes the budget announcement, the devil is in the detail and we will be going through the budget in greater detail in the following days. We are also expecting further announcements next week when the government’s industrial strategy is unveiled,” said Ogunshakin.  

If you would like to contact Andy Walker about this, or any other story, please email awalker@infrastructure-intelligence.com.