The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy is designed to free up by £725bn in long-term funding for maintenance and major projects with at least £9bn allocated in 2025-26 to address the critical maintenance needs of health, education and justice estates, rising to over £10bn per year by 2034-35.  

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘We're not just fixing buildings – we're enhancing public services, improving lives and creating the conditions for sustainable economic growth in communities throughout the UK.'

The investment, which is designed to ensure public infrastructure capital funding continues to grow in line with inflation after the current Spending Review period, will be implemented by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority with Government and industry partners.

NHS leaders welcomed the Government's commitment to explore the use of new public private partnerships under the strategy.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, vowed to ‘work with NHS leaders and the finance sector to develop further proposals so that the NHS will be able to work with the private sector to build new healthcare facilities'.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said work could not ‘start a moment too soon' but warned against repeating ‘damaging' public finance initiatives that have saddled many with ‘considerable debt'.