CEO of UK National Infrastructure Commission appointed

Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest news and business opportunities in your inbox
CEO of UK National Infrastructure Commission appointed

The UK Chancellor has appointed Phil Graham as CEO of the National Infrastructure Commission. He joins the National Infrastructure Commission from the Department for Transport, where he has worked on many of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects.

Phil Graham led the development of the government’s high speed rail strategy, as well as leading the team supporting Sir Howard Davies’ Airports Commission and working on the London Olympics.

The Chancellor said:

I am delighted to appoint Phil Graham as CEO of the National Infrastructure Commission.

The NIC will provide expert, independent advice to the government on the most pressing ‎infrastructure challenges facing the country. Phil’s role as CEO will be vital in overseeing this work.

Lord Adonis, Interim Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission said:

Phil Graham is supremely qualified to be the first CEO of the National Infrastructure Commission.

He has done brilliant work on a wide range of nationally significant projects from high speed rail to the London Olympics and most recently ‎as secretary of the Airports Commission.

He is an excellent public servant and I am confident he will be superb in his new role.

On 5 October 2015 the Chancellor announced the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission to provide expert independent analysis of the long-term infrastructure needs of the country.

The commission has been working in shadow form since then.

The commission will publish a National Infrastructure Assessment every Parliament setting out its analysis of the UK’s infrastructure needs over a 10 to 30 year horizon. The government will be required formally to respond to the recommendations of the commission.

The commission has also been tasked ‎with carrying out specific studies of pressing infrastructure challenges.

The commission will have a remit which will ensure that it recommends infrastructure that is sustainable, affordable and provides real economic benefit.

It will not re-open decision-making processes where programmes and work have been decided, or will be decided in the immediate future, including the Smart Metering programme, the Roads Investment Strategy or Control Period 5 in rail. It will not re-open closed price control settlements in regulated utilities such as energy and water.

The Chancellor has asked the commission to report on three initial projects by Budget 2016:

  • Northern transport connectivity, especially east-west across the Pennines
  • Large-scale investment in London’s transport infrastructure, including Crossrail 2
  • Ensuring investment in energy infrastructure can meet future demand in the most efficient way

The interim chair of the commission is Lord Andrew Adonis, a former Transport Secretary (2009 – 10), Minister of State for Transport (2008 – 09), Minister for Schools (2005 – 08), and Head of the No10 Policy Unit (2001 – 05).

The Commissioners are:

  • Lord Heseltine – the former deputy prime minister who has long championed the regeneration of Britain’s inner cities through infrastructure investment

  • Sir John Armitt – the former chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority, and next year’s President of the Institute of Civil Engineers

  • Professor Tim Besley – a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee and the LSE’s Growth Commission, which recommended an independent infrastructure body

  • Demis Hassabis – artificial intelligence researcher, neuroscientist and head of DeepMind Technologies

  • Sadie Morgan – a founding director of dRMM Architects and Design Panel Chair of HS2

  • Bridget Rosewell – a senior adviser at Volterra and former Chief Economist and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority

  • Sir Paul Ruddock – chairman of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the University of Oxford Endowment

The government announced in the Spending Review that it will publish a National Infrastructure Delivery Plan next spring, setting out in detail how it will deliver key projects and programmes over the next 5 years.

The UK government has also committed to invest more than £100 billion in infrastructure over the course of this Parliament.

List of country news

Country news

  • December 23, 2015

    Macquarie infrastructure debt investment solutions provides 80 million debt refinancing for UK housing association

    Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS) has arranged and financed an £80 million (US$119 million) loan to the largest housing association in West Oxfordshire (UK), Cottsway Housing Association. The debt facility will be drawn down in two tranches and will mature in 2055. Read more
  • December 26, 2008

    Local PPP news channels

    Some of you may be interested in public private partnerships news in one country. This is why I want to leave you here some quick links that will take you rapidly to the right place. As some of you already may know this blog supports another website that contains all the worlwide news related to the world of public private partnerships (and when I use this term I also want to refer to the project finance and private infrastructure investment worlds). Read more
  • January 06, 2009

    PROJECT FINANCE INIATIVES NEWS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

    The year 2009 just started and the public private finance (pfi-ppp) sector in the UK has a lot to say. There were some movement in the last days of 2008 but the credit crunch is hitting strongly the industry and in different ways. Read more
  • February 21, 2009

    Canada and UK: PPP/PFI projects reach financial close

    In spite of the adverse economical climate there have been four financial close in the last days. It is fair to say that governments played an important role in all this but PPP projects have showed that they still can go ahead. Read more
  • September 25, 2009

    September 21st to September 25th. PPP news around the world

    I stopped by to leave you all the PPP/P3 news of this week around the world. It's been a long time since I wrote something on this blog. Travelling for work kept me busy all this time but I hope to have more time from now on to keep you updated with the the most interesting stories on PPPs. Read more

Share this news

Join us

In order to get full access to News section, you must have a full subscription. You can check all the benefits of becoming a member and purchase a subscription on our membership page.