ADD2852 Infrastructure work programme for 26-27

1.1.    Mayoral Decision (MD) 3382 approved the establishment of the Upgrading London’s Infrastructure (ULI) programme and its associated delivery plan. This named the Assistant Director of Connectivity, Air Quality, Transport and Infrastructure as the approved Senior Responsible Owner. 

1.2.    The ULI delivery plan aims to ensure that London has the energy, water, digital connectivity and data infrastructure in place to achieve the Mayor’s ambitious goals around net zero, climate resilience, housing delivery and economic growth. It has four project groupings: 
•    enabling the new infrastructure needed for housing and productivity
•    readying London’s infrastructure for the future
•    reducing disruption caused by infrastructure delivery
•    driving data innovation.

1.3.    This Assistant Director Decision (ADD) exercises the authority delegated in MD3382 to the Assistant Director of Connectivity, Air Quality, Transport and Infrastructure. It is meant to secure approval for infrastructure projects that: are already detailed in the delivery plan; and require approval for receipt and expenditure of external income (as per Decisions 3 and 4 in MD3382).  
 

2.1.    The core London-level outcomes to which this programme will contribute are: 
•    London is a net-zero carbon city
•    London is resilient to extreme weather and the impacts of climate change
•    Londoners live in homes they can afford
•    stable, long-term economic growth benefits all of London’s communities.

2.2.    The objectives of the programme are detailed at paragraphs 2.3 to 2.8, below.
Project grouping 1: enabling the new infrastructure needed for housing and productivity
Project 1.1 – Policy and regulatory engagement, and maintaining an up-to-date London Infrastructure Framework (LIF)

2.3.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include the following:
•    Developing a business case that explores the rationale, scope, form and focus for an Infrastructure Delivery Champion, that will support mobilisation of investment into London’s infrastructure – working with London and Partners and wider stakeholders. 
•    Undertaking a study focused on the resilience of London’s infrastructure. This will develop a more consistent view of system vulnerabilities. It will also help to identify shared resilience objectives to help infrastructure partners (such as utilities) plan for long-term resilience challenges (e.g. quality and reliability of energy/water, aging networks and assets, scale of upgrades, interdependencies across sectors), and mitigate risks. 
•    Working with key industry experts through the Infrastructure Advisory Panel, the Young Professionals Panel and the London Infrastructure Group; convening and facilitating cross-sector collaboration that will contribute to the delivery of our ULI Delivery Plan objectives. 

Project 1.2 – Expected outcome: address utility connection issues, pilot futureproofing, coordinate data centre growth and plan for major electricity demand users

2.4.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include the following:
•    Develop a London Data Centre Clusters Opportunity Plan, and supporting evidence base, to establish a roadmap for enabling: 
o    more sustainable data centre development
o    better-coordinated infrastructure delivery at a cluster level
o    improved alignment of investment with local economic growth and skills benefits. 
•    Secure and deploy specialist electricity connection expertise to help unlock housing sites affected by electricity constraints; and strengthen the GLA’s influence and technical capability on wider connection reform. 
•    Develop a toolkit to improve futureproofing of utility infrastructure, and minimise disruption of enabling works, in high-growth development areas. 
•    Undertake technical work, and secure technical support, to address utility constraints where they affect strategic sites, to enable interventions that unlock development (e.g. lack of electrical capacity, surface-water drainage issues).

Project grouping 2: readying London’s infrastructure for the future
Project 2.1 – Expected outcome: support whole-systems and area-based approaches to net-zero energy planning and delivery

2.5.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include the following:
•    Targeted improvements to the London Heat Map (informed by user research and stakeholder feedback), to ensure the platform remains London’s authoritative source of information on existing and planned heat networks. This will support the GLA’s strategic role as a Zone Coordination Body. Enhancements will ensure the platform is fit for purpose, and aligned with emerging requirements associated with the rollout of heat network zoning across London. 
•    Researching how heat-network transmission infrastructure can benefit London’s electricity grid, to support long-term energy-system planning and investment decisions linked to heat networks and electricity grid upgrades.
•    A delivery model road map for area-based decarbonisation projects, and a decision tree (publication version). This will help boroughs to enable area-based delivery of net-zero infrastructure projects, by providing resources to make informed decisions regarding project prioritisation; governance; delivery models; and investment readiness. There will be a focus on demonstrator areas to showcase this approach. This will help boroughs to progress through the local area energy planning process towards implementation, once the sub-regional Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) have been completed across London. 
•    An infrastructure coordination and disruption toolkit. This will give stakeholders guidance on how net-zero project delivery, in an area, may be optimised to maximise benefits, and reduce disruption and cost, to support pace and scale of project delivery.
•    Developing standard-detail concept designs for public realm and greening interventions; and unlocking area-based future-proofing through new infrastructure delivery. This responds to industry requests to support mitigation of impacts by reinstating better than before, and potentially exploring a model for single-contract delivery.
•    A technical study to support the commercialisation and delivery of local energy generation and storage projects. The study will focus on smart local-energy systems in areas of grid constraint in London. This study will provide an evidence base, through which London can secure further investment into energy infrastructure – from entities such as GB Energy, or other private finance – whilst unlocking homes and supporting wider infrastructure projects. 
Project 2.2 – Expected outcome: develop Subregional Integrated Water Management Strategies (IWMS)

2.6.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include an IWMS for a second catchment in London. This will be informed by previous London-wide IWMS investigations that prioritised catchments for focus. This study will help to identify risks and interdependencies across a catchment; and provide an evidence base for interventions such as new infrastructure or planning policy support. 

Project grouping 3: reducing disruption caused by infrastructure delivery

Project 3.1 – Expected outcome: reduce disruption by expanding the Lane Rental Scheme, deploying the ‘dig once’ approach and developing the SuDS through Streetworks Market (SSM)

2.7.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include the following:
•    Providing technical and operational support to TfL as part of efforts to implement the pan-London Lane Rental scheme. This will include development of a spatial data tool (the Lane Rental Dashboard); and incorporate proposed Lane Rental schemes, and planned and speculative utility works. The dashboard aims to: 
o    accelerate isolated projects pre-implementation
o    ringfence opportunities for collaborative streetworks projects, post-implementation, that may realise Lane Rental waivers.
•    Providing guidance on collaborative streetworks projects – including the use of data in the Infrastructure Mapping Application (IMA) Toolbox, to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). 
•    Completing the Ofwat-funded project to enable scaled delivery of SuDS in London, originally approved under DD2699. Ofwat has approved a two-month extension to the SuDs project, being run in partnership with Thames Water. As such, it has granted £26,998 of further funding, which the GLA will receive via Thames Water.

Project grouping 4: driving data innovation

Project 4.2 – Expected outcome: building and supporting digital and data services

2.8.    To support the delivery of this outcome, proposed activities include the following:
•    Functional improvements across the IMA Toolbox tools (including the IMA Explorer Tool and the Local Area Energy Planning DataHub, among other existing or emerging platforms). This work aims to ensure these tools continue to meet the evolving needs of the Infrastructure Coordination Service (ICS) and stakeholders. 
•    Paying for annual software and data storage infrastructure, to keep using the ICS’s digital tools and services. 
•    Paying for additional Esri licences, to support growing use of the ICS’s digital and data services. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and GLA must comply with the public sector equality duty (PSED) and must have due regard to the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of the requirements to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination), race (ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, and sexual orientation. 

3.3.    Consideration of the PSED is not a one-off task. The duty must be fulfilled before taking a decision, at the time of taking a decision, and after the decision has been taken, to ensure that equalities impacts are kept under ongoing review.

3.4.    The ULI delivery plan helps achieve several of the Mayor’s statutory equality objectives. Progress on delivery of these objectives is reported on each year in the Mayor’s Annual Equality Report.

3.5.    In line with the Mayor’s ambitions, the work aims to improve all Londoners’ access to essential services and housing. Reducing disruption on the road will create benefits such as reduced noise and air pollution, which can have a disproportionate impact on neighbourhoods with vulnerable residents. Increasingly, we are seeing that streetworks collaborations produce a positive impact for a diverse group of beneficiaries, including residents and businesses. 

3.6.    Infrastructure and development works often reduce the accessibility of roads and the public realm; this has a negative impact on several groups with protected characteristics. The dig-once approach aims to minimise impacts on these groups, and to ensure their needs are considered, wherever possible, at an early stage of project planning. Shortening streetworks will also improve accessibility across London.

3.7.    Through its LAEP work, the GLA is considering how the energy transition will affect diverse groups of Londoners. The GLA is also using wider datasets, such as socioeconomic data, to consider the impacts of net-zero on fuel-poor and marginalised groups. Through the proposed area-based approaches workstream to implement LAEP recommendations, the GLA will work with boroughs to engage with communities directly.
 

Risk assessment 
4.1.    The table below covers risks related to this project: 
 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 

4.2.    This work to implement the ULI programme also links to the following Mayoral strategies and priorities: 

4.3.    No one involved in the drafting or clearance of this document has any conflicts of interest to declare.

5.1.    Approval is sought for project expenditure and income in 2026-27 only. The proposed spending is financed mainly by GLA resources, as agreed in the budget for this financial year, and from external income from GMCA and Thames Water. This external income is not part of the Integrated Settlement. Expenditure is for the full amount; and was confirmed only after the GLA Mayor budget was finalised. The breakdown is detailed in the tables below:

Expenditure 

Income

5.2.    Any additional funding secured for the programme will be used to enhance the programme, with the appropriate budget adjustments being made.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Assistant Director of Connectivity, Air Quality, Transport and Infrastructure concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further, or that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development, and the improvement of the environment in Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to: 
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people 
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the UK 
•    consult with appropriate bodies. 

6.2.    In taking this decision, the Assistant Director of Connectivity, Air Quality, Transport and Infrastructure should have due regard to the PSED under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 – namely, the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not. This requirement is addressed at section 3, above. 

6.3.    Joint delivery activity with another organisation (including TfL, where applicable) will be governed by an appropriate agreement (anticipated to be a memorandum of understanding or, if required, a service agreement), and no expenditure will be committed unless and until such agreement is in place, in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Specifically:
•    a draft agreement has been drafted for signature by the GMCA and the GLA 
•    the partnership arrangement with Thames Water is covered by the existing collaboration agreement
•    a memorandum of understanding is being drafted to formalise a joint research project on how heat-network transmission infrastructure can benefit London’s electricity grid.

6.4.    Any grant funding received must comply with all applicable legal requirements, including (where relevant) the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

6.5.    For any decision taken under this delegation, that involves entering into commitments extending beyond the current Mayoral term at the point the commitment is made, officers must ensure that the terms of all agreements entered into concerning such commitments do not have the effect of fettering the discretion of any successor administration, considering in particular that future London elections may change priorities. Accordingly, officers must ensure all agreements that involve making such commitments:
•    including a GLA right to terminate, at any point, for convenience (at no cost to the GLA) and 
•    are managed in such a manner, and any services, supplies, works deliverables, milestones and/or output requirements are structured, so as to mitigate risks of the GLA incurring abortive expenditure (which might be reasonably be taken to fetter, practically, the exercise of such discretion).
 

7.1.    This work will be delivered with the following significant milestones:

None