Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make his policy to require the National Infrastructure Commission to analyse the distributional effect of different infrastructure options by geographical area, income group, gender, and ethnicity.

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has been established to provide impartial, expert advice, and make independent recommendations to the government on economic infrastructure. The NIC will deliver the first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment in the summer, taking a strategic view on the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs and how to meet them.

The NIC’s recommendations must be aligned with their objectives of supporting sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK, improving competitiveness, and improving quality of life. When producing its outputs, the NIC must include a transparent assessment of the impact on costs to businesses, consumers, government, public bodies and other end users of infrastructure that would arise from implementing the NIC’s recommendations.

The government must respond formally to the NIC’s recommendations, stating clearly whether the government accepts or rejects these recommendations. When government policy is made, officials must consider and advise ministers on the impact on protected groups and promoting greater fairness for them.