PRESS RELEASE : New digital map of underground pipes and cables on track to grow economy by £5 billion [November 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 23 November 2023.

NUAR now available across England and Wales; measures introduced to deliver efficiency and economic growth from better access to underground infrastructure data.

The emerging digital map of power and broadband cables, gas and water pipes and other underground infrastructure is now available across the whole of England and Wales in a boost to economic growth and public services for people across the country.

The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) will revolutionise the way we install, maintain, operate and repair the pipes and cables buried beneath our feet, growing our economy and reducing disruption to the public. From today, it has expanded coverage to include the South East, South West, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber and East of England.

NUAR includes data from all of the major energy and water providers, such as Welsh Water, Cadent Gas and UK Power Networks, several major telecommunications companies, including CityFibre and Virgin Media O2, as well as smaller providers of these services, transport organisations and local authorities. It is estimated to deliver £490 million per year (circa £5 billion over a decade) of economic growth through increased efficiencies in construction and development, less accidental damage to pipes and cables, and reduced disruption to the public and businesses (from extended road closures and congestion), as well as improved workers’ safety.

Measures were also tabled in Parliament yesterday to update existing legislation, taking advantage of opportunities provided by data and technology advancements, to simplify and expedite the process by which this kind of asset data is shared.

These updates will ensure workers have access to up-to-date, comprehensive and standardised data when they need it. This will reduce the time taken for workers to get all the location data they need to carry out safe digging from six days to 60 seconds – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Legislative reforms being sought would also ensure a sustainable service through fair and reasonable charges to asset owners.

Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said:

The National Underground Asset Register is on track to transform how the UK manages the pipes and cables beneath the ground. Thanks to government working closely with industry, workers across the whole of England and Wales now have data, at their fingertips, about the infrastructure under our feet.

The Register is a prime example of the Geospatial Commission and wider government driving innovation that will deliver improved public services, create new better-paid jobs and grow the economy, and I’m delighted that legislative updates are being progressed to support this.

The Geospatial Commission also published a project update, including sharing information on a discovery project, supported by the Government Office for Technology Transfer, to explore the potential for increased economic growth that could be realised through widening access to the vital national asset, including opportunities for the wider market. This could include, for example, supporting the rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints, flood risk planning, emergency response or conveyancing.

Alexandra Notay, Independent Commissioner, Geospatial Commission said:

It is fantastic to see the progress being made on delivering the core ‘safe dig’ use case that NUAR is intended to meet, and I am very proud of the team at the Geospatial Commission for delivering this collaborative project for and with a wide range of industry stakeholders. The supportive statements from users in the project update is a testament to the value that NUAR is already bringing to those who manage our underground assets.

However, I am particularly excited to see work commence on exploring the potential benefits that NUAR could bring to other users, especially in the property sector. I believe that NUAR could enable huge amounts of innovation in construction, development and operations across the real estate spectrum – supporting better decisions being made more quickly.

Background

There is estimated to be around 4 million kilometres of buried pipes and cables in the UK, and a hole dug every 7 seconds to install, fix, maintain or repair these assets that are critical in keeping the water running, gas and electricity flowing and our telecommunications lines connected. Approximately 1 in every 65 holes dug results in an accidental asset strike (c. 60,000 a year), causing around £2.4 billion worth of economic cost, putting workers’ lives at risk and disrupting our day-to-day lives.

There are 700+ asset owners across the public and private sectors (including energy, water and telcos) who hold data about their own assets, which they are required by law to share for the purposes of ‘safe digging’. However, currently there is no standardised method to do this with multiple organisations having to be contacted for each dig, providing information in varied formats, scales, quality and on different timelines resulting in a complex process for installing, maintaining, operating and repairing buried assets.

NUAR is a government-led programme creating a single, comprehensive data-sharing platform on the location and condition of underground assets. The fundamental purpose of NUAR is to streamline the data-sharing process, reduce the risk of potentially lethal utility asset strikes and promote more efficient management and maintenance of underground assets.

NUAR will improve efficiency in construction and development, reduce disruption to the public and businesses (from extended road closures and congestion), improve workers’ safety and is estimated to deliver £490 million economic growth per year through increased efficiency, reduced asset strikes and reduced disruptions for citizens and businesses.

NUAR will underpin the government’s priority to get the economy growing; expediting projects like new roads, new houses and broadband roll-out and organisations who have been fully onboarded can now use NUAR in their geographical area of business.

The MVP provides users in England and Wales access to the emerging platform. In line with the Government Service Standard, the Geospatial Commission is committed to iterative delivery where users are placed at the centre of product and service design, and are given access to core functionality early and often to help ensure the service best meets user needs and expectations. NUAR will be iteratively enhanced until it is fully operational, including the service’s features, as well as data completeness, coverage and currency, and user base.

MVP coverage will be expanded to Northern Ireland by spring 2024 and the platform will be fully operational across the three nations by the end of 2025. Scotland already benefits from a system of this kind (Scottish Community Apparatus Data Vault). Scottish Government officials have helped inform the development of NUAR, ensuring consistency across the two services.

Notes to editors

Stakeholder comments can be found below:

Nigel Myers, Senior Statutory and Streetworks Manager, Virgin Media O2 said:

Virgin Media are fully aware of the benefits to being a contributing asset owner to the NUAR initiative and look forward to being part of the next steps of the journey.

As a works promoter with a national footprint, we are delighted with the news that the MVP is being rolled out and expanded across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, marking a significant contribution towards a standard and consistent process for sharing of safe digging data.

David Capon,Co-Chair, HAUC (UK) said:

As Co-Chair of HAUC (UK) I fully support what you are doing and am excited especially with the direction of travel of the project and the MVP expansion. The NUAR data is key for our industry and will provide a platform to drive better planning and execution of works.

I am also pleased that legislative reform is now at the forefront of the thinking and the potential for this being a more inclusive data set with wider community access should be applauded. The launching of a new discovery project signals the value of NUAR and the community it serves and shows the project has reached a maturity and confidence level to move forward.

Heidi Mottram, Chief Executive, Northumbrian Water said:

We are proud to already be using the national underground asset register in our northern planning and operations teams where we operate as Northumbrian Water. We are delighted with the news that the MVP is now expanding across the country sooner than planned, marking a significant step towards a smarter and more resilient future. It also means that our colleagues and customers in our Essex and Suffolk operating region will soon also benefit from more efficient ways of working.

Colin Sawkins, Assurance and Enabling Specialist, Cadent Gas said:

The continued updating of the NUAR platform and expansion of the MVP area gives asset owners the confidence that those enquiring about asset locations will have the available tools at their fingertips to plan accordingly. Furthermore, the potential for NUAR to become legislation for all asset owners to supply their asset information is a positive step forward in ensuring all asset data is available in one place.

Clive Bairsto, Co-Chair, HAUC (UK), said:

These are important steps for the NUAR programme and I look forward to seeing the benefits of NUAR rolled out to a wider group of participants. Streetworks UK are particularly keen to see the maximum utilisation of a system that will ensure the safety and security of all ‘the underworld players’ that are operating in our streets and roads close to or around asset owners systems, and so welcome the wider engagement in the Discovery Projects for other users and other cases of use.

The legislative reform aspects of who pays, what for and when for the NUAR system is a critical agreement to be reached – and it is hoped that careful consideration will be given to all the stakeholders involved. Good luck to the NUAR Team: there is much still to get done, but today’s announcements are a positive signal.

Matt Edwards, Chief Data Officer, Anglian Water said:

Anglian Water Services congratulate NUAR on achieving readiness for expansion of the MVP across England and Wales, and the significant work and support provided to national infrastructure. We welcome and appreciate the engagement to this point, and the ongoing commitment for inclusion of all interested parties going forward.

Simon Hamlyn, CEO, Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES) said:

CICES is pleased to support the Geospatial Commission as they continue to develop NUAR, especially through their Discovery project. The anticipation is there will be more efficient management and maintenance of underground assets, especially plans to consider universal access and the opportunity for additional use cases. Collaboration is vital to the success of the NUAR and the institution looks forward to engaging with the Geospatial Commission as they look to update existing legislation and promote the MVP.

Tom Duncan, Head of Design and Records, GTC-UK said:

We are pleased to see that the MVP coverage will now extend over the whole of England and Wales and that all major gas, electricity and water asset owners are signed up to the NUAR platform. We are looking forward to working with you further on the NUAR Discovery Project to understand possible new use cases for the NUAR data.