From HS2 cancellations to Heathrow’s still unbuilt third runway, the over-budget Elizabeth line to the repeated delays to the Hinkley C nuclear reactor, why is the UK so bad at infrastructure projects?
This week the Expert Factor team – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – take a deep dive into what goes wrong when the UK wants to build big things. How did the costs for HS2 get so high? Is there the right level of government expertise to see through big infrastructure projects? Does the UK have a bigger NIMBY problem than other countries? And what could be done to learn from past mistakes?
Participants
Paul Johnson
Paul has been the Director of the IFS since 2011. He is also currently visiting professor in the Department of Economics at University College London.
Anand Menon
Anand is director of the UK in a Changing Europe a unique initiative funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council that aims to make the findings of social scientific research available and accessible to all non-academic audiences interested in Brexit, the Brexit process and its implications.
Hannah White
Hannah has extensive knowledge of Westminster and Whitehall based on two decades of experience. Before joining the IfG in 2015, she ran the Committee on Standards in Public Life in the Cabinet Office, and was a senior clerk in the House of Commons.
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