Spend more on transport, says CBI
November 28, 2005
The CBI has called on the government to spend an extra £1bn on transport over the next two years, claiming delays are hitting output and stressing-out staff.
The business leaders' group wants the cash spent on road and rail projects, and demanded a £60bn injection to take spending in the next decade to £300bn.
Director general Sir Digby Jones has also called for the UK's "decrepit" transport planning to be reformed.
The government has commissioned a review of long-term transport needs.
The review is being conducted by Sir Rod Eddington, former boss of British Airways, and is due to report next spring.
A CBI survey of 1,000 firms and individual workers revealed "widespread dissatisfaction" with the UK's transport infrastructure.
The study revealed companies believed transport delays led to lost productivity, increased costs and diminished customer service.
Staff were often late for work and arrived stressed because of delays, the report also said.
The findings come as the CBI's annual conference gets under way in London.
'Goods to market'
Sir Digby said: "Although transport spending has risen in recent years, there are decades of under-investment to deal with and it is clear that business still finds it far too difficult to get its goods to market and its people to work.
"The government must ensure more is done now to improve the transport network if its business-friendly credentials are to have any credibility.
"The government must not bury its head in the sand. We have to do something about it, and quickly."
He said half of those questioned believed the UK's reputation as a place to do business was being harmed by transport hold-ups.
And two-third of firms believed the problem would get worse before 2010.
"Germany built two high-speed railway lines and three airport terminals in the time it took us to have a planning inquiry to build Terminal 5 at Heathrow," Sir Digby told the BBC.
"This is no way for the fourth biggest economy on earth to operate."
Transport secretary Alistair Darling admitted that improvements were needed to the planning process, but said the government was spending more money on transport than in the past.
Mr Darling said he would be announcing additional funding for seven local authorities to pilot road pricing schemes.
"Unless we look at that, we will have huge problems - absolute gridlock - in 20 or 30 years' time," he told the BBC's Today programme.
Print this page