The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a warning claiming that the UK government and wider economy “lack the necessary skills to deliver ambitious plans for major infrastructure over the next five years”.
Detailed in the Value from Government Investment in Major Projects report released yesterday (15 May), the PAC indicates that the skills shortages in technical and engineering disciplines are set to worsen as gaps in the UK’s workforce are compounded by global competition.
Project management and design are also areas of concern, with the PAC raising serious concerns around skilled professionals in senior positions.
Highlighting the extent of the issue, the report details that of 16,000 project professionals needing accreditation from the government’s major project leadership academy, only 1,000 had done so at the time of publication.
The result reveals a gulf in the expertise required to provide large-scale infrastructure projects and could result in higher prices for scarce skills.
For energy, this could prove an issue with grid infrastructure needing an overhaul to facilitate the connection of renewable energy projects.
Issues surrounding investment
According to the PAC, in March 2023, the government’s Major Projects Portfolio included 244 projects with an estimated total whole-life cost of £805 billion. The PAC’s inquiry heard that this scale of investment is unprecedented, and projected spending over the next five years is very high as the government looks to develop sectors including road, rail, and energy.
Despite the significant amount of investment, the PAC believes that government departments are not devoting enough time and effort to ensure they maximise the value from projects.
For instance, in 2019, only 8% of the £432 billion spent on major projects had robust impact evaluation plans, and around two-thirds had no plans. This is concerning because high-quality evaluation is important to prove what works, demonstrate value, and make the case for or against further investment. Making decisions in the absence of evidence puts value for money at unnecessary risk.
Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee, said: “Over the coming years, Government spending on major infrastructure projects is set to rise to unprecedented levels. Such projects present unique and novel challenges which government must navigate if it is to secure value for public money.
“Without a robust market for essential skills in place, these are challenges the UK will fail to meet, as shortages push costs up in a globally competitive environment.”
Hillier concluded: “All too often we see projects and programmes that are poorly managed and delivered late and over budget. The failure to ensure projects have robust impact evaluation plans in place is symptomatic of the short-term mentality dominating these processes. The government must encourage cross-departmental learning if we are to avoid repeating past mistakes.”
