London's ageing infrastructure

London's infrastructure is under pressure

As one of the oldest and most populated cities in the world, London is constantly having to update itself to meet the demands of an ever-increasing population. As such, London First, a business-led organisation which represents the capital's leading employers, has set up an Infrastructure Commission to investigate what can be done to improve London's ageing infrastructure.

Despite it being a system that has worked for over a century, London's water system was built in the Victorian era and as such, highlights the need to improve existing substructures whilst implementing new systems like the London Tideway Tunnels.

The Commission's first action has been to issue a Call For Evidence to businesses and stakeholders for submissions of evidence in order to make recommendations to national and local government, and regulators, for the short, medium and longer terms.

Little resilience

The 'Call' states: "It has been argued that in practice this model over-emphasises short-term prices above long-term investment, as regulators seek to minimise short-term charges to end users, and takes inadequate account of the consumer's wish for quality (a problem compounded by the difficulty in providing differentiated services).

There can also be a mismatch between wider public policy objectives (for example promoting low carbon provision) and a regulator's approach to setting prices."

As much of London's infrastructure is regularly put under pressure and only managed and maintained by a relatively small range of private and public, semi-competitive and monopoly providers with different financing regimes, it is hoped this strategy will create a unified plan to improve the capital.

Not a quick fix issue

Speaking to WaterBriefing.org, Commission Chairman Martin Stanley, Head of Macquarie Capital Funds Europe summed up the endeavour.
"London is the world's leading city. But it needs the right underpinnings to remain at the top of this competitive league. World class infrastructure is required in all forms of transport, telecommunications and energy as well as water and waste management.

These all support a city's economic competitiveness and its attractiveness for residents and visitors. Few would argue with this, but the short term interest of the customer and the long term need for investment are difficult to reconcile."

"I have agreed to chair London First's Infrastructure Commission in order to ascertain London's long term infrastructure needs and to identify means by which they might be met. We have brought together an impressive group of people as commissioners, and I hope we will attract submissions from an even wider range of experts, from infrastructure customers, providers, regulators and academics.

"This is not a quick fix issue. We are not playing politics with infrastructure, since the timescales involved vastly exceed those of the political cycle. Indeed, we aim to report late in 2010, after the General Election. Our aim is to inform the Government as it shapes policies which will set the framework and incentives for infrastructure investment.

"The size of the task should not be trivialised - this is complex, politically and economically. The establishment of the Commission is an acknowledgement of this complexity, and as a group, the Commission is determined to assemble and critique the best ideas for tackling the barriers to London's development as a world leading city."

To learn more about the Call for Evidence, click here.

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