What it means for the South West
As SWIP works to refresh its Vision, a core driver for which is advancing regional economic vitality through robust infrastructure, the ICE’s September 2025 report, What are the Pinch Points to Delivering on the UK’s Infrastructure Ambitions? (PDF download 448kB) couldn’t be more timely.
The Government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy will be backed by £725 billion in investments across key sectors including clean energy, transport, housing and more. The report highlights systemic barriers – or ‘pinch points’ – that could derail delivery of this. It urges swift action from Government and local stakeholders on supply chains, skills, leadership, finance, and planning.
Here’s a breakdown of its key findings and what it signals for the South West region:
Supply chain resilience
The UK faces vulnerabilities from an over-reliance on imports and global shortages of strategic critical minerals like lithium and copper that are essential for meeting our net zero targets. Disruptions to these supply chains, such as the Trump Administration’s trade tariffs, are likely to inflate costs and delay projects. The report calls for “friendshoring” by boosting domestic manufacturing and supply chains.
The South West region is leading the way on clean energy innovation, exemplified by the Hinkley Point C nuclear project and Cornwall’s lithium mining activity (backed by the Government’s National Wealth Fund). However, the logistics strains set out in the report could bottleneck progress, slowing delivery and representing significant monetary and environmental costs. Regional supply chain hubs could be an answer to this, to build in resilience, reduce imports and align with government policy.
Workforce capability
The UK’s skills shortages are acute. The report highlights that to deliver against our targets, the UK needs 47,860 additional construction workers every year until 2029 – the skills gap is particularly pronounced in engineering and manufacturing. An ageing workforce, declining investment in training, and immigration barriers only compound this issue further.
According to the Make UK report, Skills for Success: The Reforms Essential to Our Economic Future, there are currently 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies in the UK manufacturing sector, costing the UK economy £6 billion in lost output each year. The report praises models like Hinkley Point C’s apprenticeships but stresses the need for reskilling and diversity to future-proof the workforce.
These issues are compounded by the South West’s connectivity challenges, which choke access to learning and training for those in rural areas, especially young people looking to access colleges and apprenticeships.
So while the South West’s clustered education sector, which includes initiatives like Bridgwater & Taunton College’s success in training 1,000+ apprentices, insulates it against the worst impacts of skills shortages, devolved skills plans via Skills England are still essential to attract diverse talent. The West of England Combined Authority (WECA)’s growth plan has set out encouraging plans to do this on a regional level, as has the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA) via its Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP).
Planning and regulatory reform
The South West’s peninsula shape means its main transport and energy routes run straight down the region, with few connections across it. This creates heavy reliance on specific areas and makes the region vulnerable to disruptions. For example, Cornwall, being at the far end, could face bigger problems if infrastructure fails elsewhere in the region. To avoid this, planning must consider the entire region’s needs, not just local ones, since services depend on connections across the area.
The infrastructure we build today will still be in use far into the future, even into the mid-2100s. So, planning needs to look at the big picture and think long-term.
And it is not just outlook but delays that constrain the current planning system. In this country, consenting delays average four years, which are driven by entrenched issues such as over-complicated processes and under-resourced agencies. Like every region in the UK, the South West’s major projects are suffering the effects. With budgets ever more stretched and deadlines ever more urgent, the region’s planned offshore wind farms, solar farms, geothermal and lithium projects, and strategic reservoirs demand faster approvals.
While the Government plans to streamline this via reforms set out in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the report warns that it must be done without eroding public trust or environmental safeguards.
Digital tools could help, but staffing gaps in planning authorities – potentially 7,500 nationwide – hit the South West hard. Going further and faster for planning reform will be essential to counteract this.
These pinch points echo decades-old issues, but the government’s legislative agenda offers an opportunity for a reset. For the South West, they underscore the need for targeted investment in skills, supply chains, and planning to leverage our strengths and skillset.
The peninsular geography of the South West, means its main arterial transport and energy routes flow axially down the peninsula with few cross-cutting routes. This leads to significant localised dependencies as well as robustness and resilience challenges. For example, Cornwall is literally at the end of the line and may suffer disproportionately if infrastructure systems are disrupted elsewhere in the region. It is vital, therefore, that planning looks at the whole regional system and not just localised needs and effects, which themselves will be dependent on services flowing from and through other parts of the region.
Much of the infrastructure we build and operate today will still be delivering value in the mid 22nd century. Planning, therefore, not only needs to systemic, it needs to consider the long term too.