The Civil Engineering Contractors Association Contractors has said that Chancellor George Osborne’s pledge of £100 billion of infrastructure spending could support 200,000 construction jobs and 600,000 jobs in the wider economy.

In his speech to Parliament yesterday to introduce the Spending Round, the Chancellor announced “the largest programme of investment in roads in half a century” and “the largest investment in Britain’s railways since Victorian times” in his bid to move Britain from rescue to recovery.

Mr Osborne committed to £50 billion of capital spending in 2015/16, in projects ranging from “roads to railways, bridges to broadband”, and a total £300 billion in capital spending to the end of the decade. He announced that specific plans for more than £100 billion of infrastructure projects would be laid before Parliament tomorrow.

CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner said that the spending round constituted a welcome recognition of the case made by CECA that infrastructure spending is the most cost-effective means available to government to drive growth in the wider economy, commenting:

“Recent research produced by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) for CECA has argued that the multiplying factor of infrastructure investment is such that the £100 billion worth of projects should return more than £280 billion to the economy. Our estimates indicate that this could support 200,000 construction jobs, and 600,000 jobs in the wider economy.

“While we are keen to see the details of these projects, and recognise that this return will only occur through their actual delivery, industry should welcome today’s announcements as evidence that the Treasury has recognised the substantial multiplying factor infrastructure investment will return to the British public.”

The Association represents over 300 contractors of all sizes, covering approximately 80% of the civil engineering market in Great Britain.