3.1 The Government faces challenges in planning infrastructure investment in the current economic environment. Infrastructure UK, the new coordinating body established within the Treasury, estimates that the Government needs to continue to encourage substantial investment in new infrastructure, possibly £40-50 billion per annum until 2030.6 But government departments need to reduce annual spending to assist the public finances; and the cost of using private finance has increased significantly compared with before the credit crisis.
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6 HM Treasury Strategy for national infrastructure March 2010.