Chris Richards, Director of Policy at the Institution of Civil Engineers said: “The Queen’s Speech today contained several ambitious and necessary proposals relevant to infrastructure, pushing forward urgent programs including levelling-up, planning, energy system reform and setting up a new infrastructure bank.

“The Bills in this Parliamentary session offer an ideal moment for MPs and Ministers to enable the infrastructure system to play its fundamental role in addressing the pressing issues of climate change and sustainable development. Examining the need for natural capital to be included in the definition of infrastructure, as well as the role a single national policy statement could play in speeding up the planning for new infrastructure, are just two future focused challenges we would expect to see MPs take decisions on.”