Episode 64 of the PSE Podcast sees Sajeeda Rose, Chief Executive of Nottingham City Council, joining host Dan Benn to talk about her local government background, what the future holds for the city of Nottingham, and the importance of collaboration with the rest of the East Midlands.

Playing a core role in the establishment of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, Sajeeda told Dan about the opportunity that is on offer for the region, saying:

“I believe that the establishment of a combined authority for the East Midlands is a hugely exciting opportunity for the whole region. As a region, we’ve had significant underinvestment for many years and the establishment of a combined authority is to level that playing field in terms of bringing in significant investment for growing the regional economy.”

Looking at Nottingham more specifically, Sajeeda also spoke about the opportunities there are for regeneration and growth for the city:

“We’re one of the few cities that are already starting to rethink how we repurpose our city centres to become spaces that are used for multiple reasons, for living, for retail, for leisure and for jobs so it’s hugely exciting. It’s game-changing in the sense that it’s the start of what I would imagine lots of other places will go through in terms of change for the future.”

You can hear more about Sajeeda's experiences by listening to the full episode.

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It would be naïve to say that major infrastructure projects in the UK have a successful history of being delivered on time and on budget. Whilst there are many good examples of projects that have been successful in this way, the UK is still underperforming when it comes to delivery, with one of the most notable examples – the High Speed 2 rail link – still causing controversy seven years on from its commencement.

In order to explore why major infrastructure projects are failing, and how the issue can be resolved, MIGSO-PCUBED’s David Whitmore joined us on the latest episode of the PSE Podcast. David outlined the evidence that exists to support claims that the nation is underperforming when it comes to infrastructure, saying:

“There’s quite a bit of evidence, unfortunately. Probably the main piece of evidence is that the Infrastructure and Projects Authority carries out an annual review of the performance of public sector projects in the public interest, and we’ve seen consistently over the 10-12 years that they’ve been doing that review, more red in the performance of the projects and less green.

“It’s not just that our baseline performance is worse than it was 25 years ago, it would appear to be getting worse every year.”

David was also asked about the UK’s place in the world, and whether an inability to deliver major infrastructure projects was a UK-specific issue. Bringing in the example of the far-east, David said:

“For me, it’s very much a UK issue – you might argue it’s a western world issue.

“If you take the example of the civil nuclear programme, that – for me- is probably the starkest example… About 2007 we embarked on a new nuclear programme to build 16 gigawatts of additional capacity; around the same time, the UAE started a programme to build four nuclear reactors. No contest, we’ve got 100,000 engineers and we’ve built loads of nuclear reactors, clearly we’re going to win that race.

“But here we stand today, we’ve built zero gigawatts out of that 16, two of the three projects that started have failed and are no longer in existence… yet in the UAE – using Far East partners and forming relationships with South Korean companies – they’ve built their four reactors.”

To learn more about how major infrastructure projects can be delivered successfully, listen to the latest episode of the PSE Podcast now.

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Whilst not necessarily one of the ‘big ticket’ items that councils are responsible for, the importance of highways cannot be understated. Providing a vital way of getting people to their jobs, their appointments, and their families, roads are integral to most aspects of everyday life in 2024.

Despite this, there continue to be issues with roads that should not be happening. When was the last time you saw a pothole? It was probably recently.

This is because many councils are without the adequate resources, expertise, or partner to ensure that they can make long-term improvements to their highways. On the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast, host Dan Benn was joined by Wrekin Product’s Dave Sanders and IKO Road’s Alistair Puddick, to discuss how local authorities can make sure that pesky pothole problems can be solved and highways improved in the long-term.

Talking about the challenges that councils face when they’re going about making road improvements and fixing potholes, Alistair said:

“We’ve seen that, from 2021, we were looking at £10 billion just to get the roads back up to a maintainable standard. That’s sitting in April 2024 at £16.3 billion. So the situation is only going one way and will probably, in the next couple of years, exceed the £20 billion mark if there isn’t a change in what authorities are doing.”

Dave also explained why it is important for authorities to change the way they think about highway and maintenance, saying:

“For us, certainly, our message to LCRIG members – and any local authority that’s willing to listen – is that it's changing that mindset from looking at the cost today, to looking at the cost over ten years…

… It’s about education for the guys in the local authorities to understand what products are good, what good looks like, and understand the dynamics to products when they get trafficked in the highway.”

To hear more from Dave and Alistair on how local authorities can make the right decisions when it comes to highways and maintenance, listen to the full episode now.

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