Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group: annual report 2024

2. Overview of PIPAG

The Scottish Government, with the support of Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), established a Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group (PIPAG) which met for the first time on 14 June 2023.

The group forms a crucial element of the implementation of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and the need for it was established in the first NPF4 delivery programme.

PIPAG comprises of a core advisory group of experts, supported by a reference group including a range of organisations with a wealth of experience and skills. It is anticipated that PIPAG will continue into 2025 depending on agreeing a suitable work programme to be developed and agreed by the core advisory group.

2.1 Aims & Objectives

The purpose of PIPAG is to advise on the integration of place-based and spatial thinking into public and private sector decision-making. This is linked to the prioritisation and targeting of investment to optimise outcomes and achieve place-based transformational change. Part of this includes overcoming barriers to development and identifying and promoting innovation and best practice.

Aims and Objectives

The Terms of Reference set out the key aim of:

‘supporting joined-up, timeous, place-based delivery of development and infrastructure in Scotland based on best evidence in order to achieve Scotland’s ambitions for a wellbeing economy.’

PIPAG objectives are defined as follows:

• advise on the delivery of National Planning Framework 4.
• provide strategic input to the development of the next Infrastructure Investment Plan.
• advise on prioritisation and targeting of public and private investment to optimise outcomes and achieve place-based transformational change and identify gaps in funding and finance.
• guide improved alignment and integration of place-based and spatial approaches in public and private sector decision-making.
• demonstrate what good infrastructure delivery looks like and promote innovation and best practice.

In order to achieve this, the group committed to:

• reviewing progress in delivering the spatial strategy, National Developments and national planning policy set out in NPF4.
• visibly championing delivery and challenging decision-makers to consider new ways of working, in the spirit of public service reform.
• identifying issues and blockers to development, regeneration and implementation of an infrastructure first approach in practice.
• identifying, exploring and sharing solutions and scope for innovation to overcome barriers to development and infrastructure delivery, including by applying the Place Principle in practice; and
• reflecting on the impacts and opportunities arising from wider change, including the implications of wider Scottish Government policy and programmes as they evolve.

Section 0 considers PIPAG’s outputs and outcomes against these objectives to assess progress in Year 1 (2024) and set the direction of travel and priorities for Year 2 (2025).

2.2 Membership

Core Advisory Group: the current membership of the core advisory group is attached at Appendix A. These experts were chosen due to their individual knowledge and skills, rather than as organisational representatives. The membership has stayed consistent since the inception of PIPAG, with the exception of one permanent replacement. Consistency of membership has been crucial in terms of developing relationships and making connections between group members. Group members bring a wealth of expertise from diverse fields of reference. This is seen as a strength and has enabled the group to bring unique insights to issues.

Reference group: the current reference group membership is also included at Appendix A. This has remained the same since inception, with the exception of the inclusion of Scottish Environment Link at their request. The reference group have been kept informed of progress, meetings and outputs of the core advisory group. They have developed a role in feeding into the case study templates on infrastructure themes. The reference group, including key agencies and infrastructure providers have been involved in developing outputs and findings. The PIPAG Secretariat is considering how their expertise could be further used to support objectives in the year ahead.