Along with the Industrial Strategy and a Trade Strategy the third principal plank of the government’s ambition for renewal and growth is an Infrastructure Strategy, published in June 2025. UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy commits at least £725 billion of public funding to rebuild and connect the nation. Overseen by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), it integrates economic infrastructure (transport, energy, digital) and social infrastructure (hospitals, schools, housing).
Key Pillars of the Strategy
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- Driving Growth: Prioritizes regional productivity improvements and places a strong emphasis on building 1.5 million new homes.
- Clean Energy Superpowers: Focuses on the transition to net-zero, explicitly targeting a decarbonized electricity grid by 2030 through massive investments in renewable generation and grid upgrades.
- Social Estate Revamp: Allocates £10 billion per year to health, education, and justice portfolios, specifically tackling maintenance backlogs and issues such as Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).
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Delivery and Industry Changes
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- NISTA Oversight: The newly established NISTA centralizes project assurance, streamlines delivery, and sets long-term standards.
- Infrastructure Pipeline: A live, dynamic Infrastructure Pipeline has been launched, detailing active and scheduled projects (such as HS2, Lower Thames Crossing, and AMP8) to provide certainty for investors and supply chains.
- Spatial Planning: A shift toward place-based spatial planning is designed to better align housing and transport with local industrial needs.
Impact in the East of England
The East of England serves as a vital clean energy, transport, and innovation hub within the UK’s ten-year strategy, receiving tens of billions in targeted funding. Due to its geographic vulnerability and strategic sectors, the region is highly impacted by the plan’s focus on net-zero, coastal resilience, and regional connectivity.
Major Projects and Economic Infrastructure
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- Sizewell C (Suffolk): A cornerstone of the net-zero grid strategy, the chancellor confirmed £14.2 billion of taxpayer investment for this 3.2GW nuclear power plant. The project aims to generate 7% of the UK’s electricity and create roughly 10,000 construction jobs.
- The Great Grid Upgrade: Driven by National Grid, a portion of a massive £60 billion network upgrade is being deployed across the region. This infrastructure will connect the East’s immense offshore wind capacity to the national electricity grid.
- East West Rail: The strategy secures £2.5 billion in funding to continue the delivery of this crucial rail link. It connects Oxford to Cambridge, directly unlocking economic growth across the region’s premier tech and science clusters.
- Lower Thames Crossing: Located at the border of Essex and Kent, the government allocated £590 million to progress this multi-billion-pound road tunnel. The crossing will relieve major freight bottleneck congestion near Dartford.
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Climate Resilience and Water Security
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- Flood Management: The East of England’s low-lying coastline faces severe risk from rising sea levels. The region draws heavily from the strategy’s £7.9 billion national capital pipeline for flood defences to safeguard coastal communities and farmland.
- Water Infrastructure: Operated via Anglian Water’s Strategic Pipeline Alliance under the AMP8 regulatory period, major local supply networks are being built to combat severe regional droughts. These include vast pipelines to move water across the dry eastern counties
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Workforce and Planning Outlook
Under the newly updated NISTA Infrastructure Pipeline, the East of England is projected to see a sharp increase in workforce demand. Construction and engineering jobs will dominate the regional market over the next five years to support these mega-projects, heavily tied into the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
Please direct any comments or queries about the Infrastructure Strategy to our Head of Policy, Iain McNab.
