The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has welcomed the interim findings of the Competition and Markets Authority’s Civil Engineering Market Study, which examines how supply chains, public procurement and regulation can be improved to deliver better railway and public road infrastructure.

As a part of the report the CMA set out several policy recommendations to deliver a more vibrant and competitive civil engineering market. Some of the most notable include:

· Extending multi-year capital funding settlements to all road and rail procuring authorities

· Publishing a consolidated UK-wide project pipeline, updated on a regular basis

· Embedding procurement practices that explicitly incentivise innovation, investment, scaling and long-term cost reduction

· Greater standardisation of risk allocation

ACE Director of Policy, Marie-Claude Hemming, said: “If implemented the CMA’s recommendations have the potential to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime change in the way our sector operates - transforming current business models, facilitating greater collaboration and innovation across the supply chain.

“ACE Group was delighted to submit both oral and written evidence to the study and we are pleased that its findings align with our policy recommendations and recent manifesto asks.”