Bill to target the UK’s fragmented ground data
Labour MP Mike Reader has introduced a Bill requiring geotechnical data to be shared across the UK’s infrastructure sector, arguing that better access to subsurface data is essential to reduce delays, costs and waste
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Mike Reader introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill aimed at tackling one of the most overlooked barriers to national infrastructure delivery: fragmented and inaccessible ground data. The Geotechnical Data Bill, also known as the Ground Data for Growth Bill, would mandate the sharing of factual data—including borehole logs, soil analysis and groundwater records—through the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR). Britain, Reader argues, “cannot build faster, greener and more affordably” while continuing to “dig blind.”
Vast quantities of ground investigation data are collected across the UK each year, yet much of it remains siloed, duplicated or commercially locked away. Engineers regularly re drill boreholes and repeat soil testing because existing information is unavailable, causing delays, redesigns and unnecessary cost. With 5.5 million road excavations a year, unforeseen ground conditions remain a major source of disruption—an inefficiency Reader argues the UK can no longer afford as the Government drives major housing, grid and transport programmes.
The Government’s existing NUAR platform maps 4 million km of pipes and cables, and is expected to save over £400 million annually, but it does not store the underlying geotechnical data about the ground itself. Reader’s Bill would close this gap in the nation’s infrastructure capability.
Fully utilising ground data could unlock £1.2 billion a year in avoided duplication and reduced delays. The British Geological Survey’s National Geological Repository already shows what’s possible, generating up to £36 of value for every £1 invested.
Reader frames the proposal as practical, low-cost reform that updates a principle Parliament embraced nearly 200 years ago: that better information reduces waste.
RELATED CONTENT: The Common Ground project: Survey to understand user needs
Watch Mike Reader presenting the case for the Bill in Parliament on 3 March 2026 here:
(This news item is a condensed version of the press release provided by Theo Shaw, Head of Office for Mike Reader MP, House of Commons, Palace of Westminster, London)
