What do we mean by infrastructure being "at the heart of Westminster"?

After the initial excitement of the General Election subsides, we are starting to move into the meaty bits of the campaign. Ultimately the keys to Number 10 will be handed to the party that makes the most convincing case that they will run the country well for the next five years. To do so they will have to lay out the policies that will guide them should they get into Government

We are not likely to see formal manifestos from the main parties for a week or two yet, but that does not mean that they are not pumping out infrastructure policies. And there are no shortage of manifestos being published on a near-hourly basis by trade bodies, charities and pressure groups.

One theme that appears to be emerging is the need for infrastructure policy to be at the heart of Westminister. Here I must declare an interest, as CECA’s own manifesto called for this in the form of the creation of a new cabinet committee for infrastructure.

Today we saw some of the sector’s biggest players suggest that there should be an Infrastructure Minister at Cabinet.

Elsewhere the ACE has suggested that a new Department for Infrastructure be created.

The current Government tipped its hat at this issue with the creation of a so-called Star Chamber for infrastructure. This was close enough to a cabinet committee that we shamelessly basked in the glory of this creation, whether CECA had been influential in the decision or not. We will quietly ignore any questions about whether this star chamber actually achieved anything. Or even met…

And last week Labour said that it would squeeze the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure & Projects Authority together until they had created a new body, snappily titled the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority.

So, there are plenty of solutions on the table, but what problem are they trying to solve?

Regardless of who wins the election, infrastructure is a double-edged sword for ministers. On the one-hand, it is a surefire way to boost the economy and gives politicians ample opportunities to don PPE and get snapped operating a excavator (just don’t ask to see their CPCS card).

However political careers can also be extinguished by infrastructure when it goes wrong. Projects running late or over budget can lead to uncomfortable experience at the dispatch box and in select committee grillings.

So politicians want infrastructure projects that don’t come with a sting in the tail. As such, any decision to drag and drop infrastructure to the heart of Westminster must focus on the issues that cause projects to go wrong.

To do this, this new home must be able to unlock project delays, such as planning consents, while also making sure that there is funding available

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For this reason, it is vital that HM Treasury is part of the infrastructure discussion. The controller of the purse-strings is always going to have a big say in whether projects get green-lit, so better to get them involved from the start.

But our national infrastructure is also increasingly interconnected and interdependent. As such, the delivery of energy schemes may rely on transport policy, and new flood works might be fundamental to building new towns.

The key ministers and civil servants that have the tools to unlock projects should be in constant and collaborative contact, rather than sending stiff letters to each other across Whitehall.

Finally, there is very clear evidence that the UK has suffered through a lack of long-term strategic planning for infrastructure, with policy instead driven by short-term politics. The National Infrastructure Commission was set up to do this independent from ministerial tinkering, and it should be allowed to continue to do so.

It seems that an amalgam of ideas may deliver a positive outcome for infrastructure. How about fully independent infrastructure strategy unit, hosted but run at arms-length from a beefed up IPA that reports to a senior Treasury cabinet minister. This minister could then convene a cabinet committee/star chamber/conclave/caucus/whatever, getting those with the power to tackle head-on the challenges in the pipeline.

That would surely get infrastructure to become the beating heart of Government, delivering better outcomes for everyone.